Mastermind
by Teddylonglong
Summary: How everything would have turned out differently if Ronald Weasley had used his jealousy positively. Completely AU, partly OOC, smart!Ron.
1. Chapter 1

**Mastermind**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

 **COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC.**

 _It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.  
_ _Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse._

* * *

Eight-year-old Ronald Weasley stared at his still six-year-old sister Ginny in disdain. Ever since the small girl had been able to talk, she spoke about nothing but Harry Potter. Harry Potter, a boy of Ron's age, who had somehow managed as a baby to vanquish an evil wizard. _'Who cares? Ginny is my sister, she should care about me and not about stupid Harry Potter,'_ he thought, feeling very jealous at the unknown wizard.

Suddenly, an idea popped itself to the front of his mind. _'I'm going to show her that I'm so much better than that stupid baby,'_ he resolved and headed out into the garden, where his twelve-year-old brother Percy, who had just returned for the summer holidays after his first Hogwarts year, was degnoming the garden.

"Percy," he addressed the boy in a firm voice, "I need you to help me."

Percy looked up in apparent surprise. "What do you need help with?" he enquired in a stern voice.

"I want to learn everything that you studied at Hogwarts during your first year," Ron replied in determination.

Percy frowned. "Sure I can try to teach you, but I don't know if I'm good enough to teach someone," he replied, slightly hesitating. "Why don't you ask Bill or Charlie to help you?"

In the end, his three older brothers decided to take turns teaching him in Charms, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Defence. The twins offered Ron an old wand, which they had found in a box while exploring their parents' bedroom once when they had been alone at home. While Percy taught him in Transfiguration and Charms, Bill instructed him in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, and Charlie was responsible for Defence and Potions, something for which Fred and George joined their brothers, as they were very interested in the brewing of fascinating concoctions.

Molly Weasley, completely overworked during the summer months, when all of her seven children were at home, was merely glad that they got along so well and that the older ones took turns occupying Ronald, so that she did not particularly care to check what they were doing. Otherwise, she might have found Ronald's sudden interest in studies peculiar.

HP

When his three older brothers had to return to Hogwarts in autumn, Ron was desperate. Studying with his brothers had been so much fun, and the twins did not know much more than himself, as they were only going to attend Hogwarts in a year's time. He consoled himself with the first-year books that his brothers had left for him and discussed everything that he learned with the twins.

One day, after Ginny had once more begged their father to read her one of the Harry Potter books, he asked his father for the real story about Harry Potter, and during the thirty minutes, which he was allowed to stay up longer than his sister, his father told him everything about Harry and his parents and the dark times, which had ended when little Harry vanquished Voldemort, losing his parents at the same time.

From that time onwards, Ron often used the opportunity when his father was playing Wizard's chess with him to ask him about the war, about the Ministry of Magic, the Wizengamot and other systems within the British magical world. He was over the moon with joy, when his father handed him a couple of books, seemingly surprised that his son was much more interested in politics than any of his older brothers.

"Ron, you've become boring," Ginny complained one day. "You never play with me anymore; you only study all day."

Ron scoffed. "You're only interested in Harry Potter anyway," he replied, turning back to his lecture of the Daily Prophet.

HP

During the following two years, Ron continued studying his brothers' old school books and used every opportunity to speak with his father about politics and other topics concerning the magical world. When Bill finished Hogwarts and returned to living at home during his training as curse breaker with the goblins, Ron was very eager to hear everything about Bill's new work.

It was in the summer, when Ron had just turned ten, that the twins came back to the Burrow from their first Hogwarts year and warned him.

"If you continue studying school books…"

"… you're going to be extremely bored at Hogwarts."

"You should find something else to occupy yourself…"

"… since even we were bored, 'cause you'd told us everything in advance."

"But I like studying school books," Ron replied, grumpily.

Unbeknownst to the children, their father witnessed the conversation and began to ponder how to efficiently occupy the boy who seemed to be the most intelligent of all his children. It was just by chance that he broadened the topic to Croaker, the head of the Unspeakables, when they once ended up having lunch together in the Ministry canteen.

HP

"We could use a spy," Croaker informed Arthur Weasley. "I need someone for a civil matter, while our Unspeakables are all still busy following traits of suspected Death Eaters. The task for our spy is absolutely harmless in comparison and doesn't involve dealing with any evil wizards or witches. Your son would merely need a month of training in our Unspeakable Office if he's interested."

"He surely is," Arthur replied and promised to speak with Ron and bring him to the Ministry in the morning, provided that he wanted to work for the Unspeakables.

HP

Ronald was over the moon with joy at the prospect of getting a job, with the Unspeakables at that. He felt very big and important, when he travelled to the Ministry of Magic together with his father the following morning.

His father led him into the Department of Mysteries and further into the Unspeakables Office, where he left him with Croaker.

"Good morning," Croaker greeted him in a friendly voice, "I was told that you would like to work for the Unspeakables?"

"Yes sir," Ron replied, firmly. "I'm only ten, and I'm going to attend Hogwarts next year though."

"That doesn't matter," Croaker informed him. "You're going to have a month of training right away in order to become one of our Mini Unspeakables. We also have a girl of ten years, who has begun her training just one week ago. Her name is Sphinx. Your Unspeakable name will be 'Mastermind', at least I believe that's fitting from what your father told me about you. Whenever you are here in the office or leave our office on a mission, you will wear your Unspeakable robes with hood, which will automatically alter your voice, so that it won't be recognisable. It's for the safety of the Unspeakables that we don't show others who we are."

"I understand," Ron commented, finding the matter very interesting. _'It sounds almost like a game,'_ he thought in amusement.

"You will be paid a monthly stipend for your work, and if you don't have your own Gringotts account yet, I'll take you there, so that you can open one during the next few days," Croaker informed him.

"Thank you," Ron replied, enthusiastically.

"Right after your training, I'll have a special job for you, harmless but very important for the magical world," Croaker continued. "Shine!" he then called out, and Ron was just wondering what he was up to, when a house-elf popped up in front of the head Unspeakable.

"Shine, this is Mastermind, our new Mini Unspeakable," Croaker introduced him. "He needs training garments as well as Unspeakable robes. Please see to it."

"Yes Master Croaker," Shine responded and popped away only to reappear an instant later, handing Ron a pile of clothes.

"Well, get dressed. I'll fetch you to join Sphinx's training in fifteen minutes," Croaker instructed him, as he led him into a small room.

Ron envisioned his new clothes in awe. _'They're really new,'_ he thought, fingering the silky fabric in amazement. _'Everything seems very mysterious here,'_ he thought, as he quickly changed and mentally readied himself for what was sure going to be very hard training. _'I hope the girl is nice and not too far ahead yet,'_ he mused, while he waited for Croaker to fetch him.

"Always put your Unspeakable robes over including the hood, so that no one recognises you," Croaker slightly chided him. "That's very important."

"Yes sir," Ron replied, quickly following the instruction.

"Do you have any questions?" Croaker asked, only to continue, "Otherwise, I'll take you to the training room."

"I'm ready," Ron replied, trying to keep his excitement at bay.

HP

Ron found the training with the Unspeakables extremely interesting, and the girl, Sphinx, who was ten like himself, was very friendly.

Together, they studied the Unspeakables' method of Apparition, Telepathy and Defence, however, Ron found it very difficult and was relieved that Sphinx seemed to have the same problems.

"Do both of you have your own wand already?" Horus, who was their trainer for most of the time, enquired, causing Ron to blush.

He inwardly sighed in relief, however, when Sphinx replied, "No, I'm using my grandmother's wand."

"I'm also using someone else's wand," Ron admitted, quietly.

"Very well, let's quickly go to Ollivander's and get you your own wands," Horus decided and went to receive Croaker's permission, before he popped the three of them right into Diagon Alley.

"Amazing," Ollivander commented when both of them had received their wands. "Even at such a young age, the wands already recognise you as Unspeakables."

"Excuse me sir…" Sphinx began to ask.

"How do you know that?" Ron completed her question.

"Both of your wands have a falcon feather as the core, which is normally used for the wands of Unspeakables," Ollivander informed them.

Sphinx and Ron exchanged a surprised look, before they thanked the wand maker as well as the Unspeakable who paid for their wands.

Five minutes later, they found themselves back in the training room, where Horus dismissed them and instructed them to come back at eight o'clock the following morning.

"I'm glad that you came to join me," Sphinx told him. "It wasn't half as interesting alone."

"I'm also glad to be here," Ron replied, smiling in spite of the fact that the girl was unable to see his face under the hood. "I'll see you tomorrow."

With that he made his way towards his father's office, wondering if they could return home together.

HP

"Oh, Ronniekins got himself a girlfriend…"

"… Is she at least good-looking?"

"… Does she have a sweet voice?"

"… And what colour do her eyes have?" the twins teased Ron, once the family was gathered around the dinner table.

"Ah, leave Ronald in peace," Molly Weasley scolded the twins, while their father observed the situation in clear amusement.

"Do you know what her real name is?" he finally spoke up.

Ron shook his head. "No, they forbade us to tell anyone our real name or to take off our hoods. Her voice was nice, but it's of course not her real voice."

"Well, at least what she said were her own words I suppose," Bill threw in, "so I believe that you said you liked her because of what she said and how she said it, right?"

"Yes," Ron said, giving his oldest brother a grateful look.

"Maybe she's a muggle…" George spoke again, grinning.

"… Or muggleborn," Fred added, smirking.

"No, Horus said our magic was quite strong for our age," Ron contradicted firmly, happily showing off his new wand.

"She could still be muggleborn then, even if not a muggle," Percy joined the conversation about the mysterious girl.

"Cool," Ginny said, sounding amazed. "Dad, can I become a Mini Unspeakble too, when I'm ten?"

"No," Ronald replied, quickly and harshly, thinking, _'I'm so happy to finally have found something that's just for myself and not for all of my siblings. For the first time, I'm Mastermind and not just the younger brother of Bill, Charlie, Percy or the twins, and I won't have anyone take that from me.'_

HP

The four weeks of Unspeakable training passed much too fast for Ron's liking. He really enjoyed himself, and he learned a lot. After the four weeks were over, both Sphinx and Mastermind could fairly well apparate the Unspeakables' way, which meant more popping than Apparition. It was absolutely silent and they turned themselves invisible before leaving, so that they could pop anywhere without anyone noticing. According to Horus, they were even able to pop in and out of Hogwarts.

"Your training will still continue," Croaker informed them, "however, not on such an intense basis. You will also participate in the Unspeakables' meetings, which take place once a day, usually first thing in the morning, and you will undertake your missions."

Apparently noticing both children look at him in excitement, he sighed. "Well, let me explain about your mission then. You will partly work together in this and partly on your own."

Sphinx and Ron exchanged a glance, before they both nodded in understanding.

"Most people are unaware of this, but our Queen is a witch. She is magical and comes from a family with many generations of Squibs," Croaker explained. "Recently, I've received a complaint from the Queen that the information about the magical world coming from the British Prime Minister has become absolutely insufficient ever since Minister Fudge became the Minister of Magic five months ago. It's the obligation of the Minister of Magic to inform the Prime Minister of everything important occurring in the magical world, and apparently, the new Minister is not taking this as seriously as necessary. Therefore, we need you to spy on the conversations between the Prime Minister and Minister Fudge and at the same time provide much needed information about the magical world to the Prime Minister and to the Queen herself."

"Excuse me, sir, but do you believe that we're competent enough to fulfil such important positions?" Sphinx asked, sounding incredulous.

Ron nodded, eagerly, wondering if there weren't adults who were much more predestined for such a mission.

"We shall provide you with the necessary information during our Unspeakable meetings every morning," Croaker promised. "One of you will then go to Downing Street and the other to Buckingham Palace to relay the information and pick up any possible questions from the side of the muggle government."

"I'd prefer to provide the Minister with information then," Sphinx said, pensively. "I don't know enough about the muggle world to feel comfortable enough to deal with the Queen, even knowing that she's a witch."

"I'll take the Queen then," Ron added, "although I don't know anything about the muggle world either." _'So that means that Sphinx is not muggleborn but probably a pureblood like myself,'_ he thought, recalling the conversation with the twins and Percy about his new friend and colleague.

"At least the Queen is magical," Croaker replied, smirking. "The first time, the three of us will visit both places together, and I'll introduce the two of you. Are you comfortable enough popping yourselves, or do you need to use a fireplace?"

The children exchanged a glance, before Sphinx replied for both of them. "I think we can somehow manage to sufficiently pop ourselves."

"We should be fine," Ron agreed. "When are we going to visit the Prime Minister and the Queen, sir?"

"Now," Croaker informed him, smirking. "Hold on to my hands, and I'll apparate the three of us."

Sphinx and Mastermind exchanged a surprised look, however, they could already feel the Apparition begin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Mastermind**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

 **COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC.**

 _It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.  
_ _Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse_ _._ _Thanks a lot to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!_

* * *

When the movement stopped, Ron looked around with curiosity. They found themselves in a corridor, which looked very different from the halls within the Ministry, which were quite plain with the same linoleum floor laid out everywhere. The corridor here was equipped with a dark blue carpet and somehow looked noble in comparison.

Croaker knocked at the door in front of them and told what seemed to be a secretary who he was and that they had an appointment with the Prime Minister.

"Minister O'Neill is already waiting for you," the secretary informed them and led them into the Minister's office.

HP

Minister O'Neill was a very friendly man and greeted them pleasantly, when Croaker introduced them as Mastermind and Sphinx and explained that the two ten-year-olds had come to assist him with the flow of information concerning the magical world, that they were Unspeakables though and as such not allowed to show their faces to anyone, not even to the Prime Minister.

"I fully understand," O'Neill replied gently and told them that the former Minister of Magic, Madam Bagnold, hat informed him about the role of the Unspeakables. "She was a wonderful Minister of Magic and always used to keep me updated if there was any interesting news, which is important, as it's my task to inform the Queen, who is especially interested in the magical world, because she's part of it without being able to take part."

"We understand, and while Sphinx is going to inform you, on a weekly basis if that's convenient for you, at the same time, Mastermind will speak with the Queen, provided that she accepts being informed by an Unspeakable," Croaker explained and promised, "If there's any urgent news, the children will of course contact you immediately."

"Thank you very much," the Prime Minister said and suggested that Sphinx should visit him on Friday afternoons, as this usually was the quietest time in his office.

"Is your office connected with a fireplace?" Croaker enquired and, seeing the Minister nod, suggested that he could call his office when he had time for Sphinx to visit.

"That would be the best," O'Neill agreed and added, "This will also be the best for Mastermind's visiting times with the Queen."

HP

The visit with the Queen was not much different – apart from the fact that both children were extremely amazed from the interior of Buckingham Palace. They realised soon that the Queen was indeed very interested in the magical world and asked a lot of questions. Most of them the children could answer, only from time to time, Croaker added his own explanation.

'If you don't know the answer to a question, just say that you'll check it out and inform her about it the next time,' the Head Unspeakable telepathically told the children, causing Ron to inwardly sigh in relief.

"The Queen talked to us almost as if she was a normal witch," Ron said to Sphinx, when they were back at the Unspeakables Office. "I really liked that."

"Yes," Sphinx agreed, and Ron somehow sensed that she was smiling, although he could not see it.

"You can always go to visit the Prime Minister or the Queen together if you feel more comfortable together, although I think you'll both able to inform them by yourselves," Croaker said, before he dismissed them with the suggestion to take a look at the Unspeakables' library if they were interested. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at eight o'clock for the meeting," he added and took his leave.

"Shall we take a look at the library?" Sphinx suggested, and Ron eagerly agreed.

Together, they spent a couple of hours checking out the different sections of the surprisingly huge library, discussing this and that with interest.

 _'_ _I've never met such a nice girl before,'_ Ron thought, when they both popped to their homes. _'I hope I can become friends with her at Hogwarts, too.'_

HP

From the following week onwards, they only had training from after the morning meeting until lunchtime, and during the afternoons, they were free to spend their time in the library or assist the adults if their help was required.

Ron was happier than he had been ever before in his life. He felt as if for the first time he was able to escape from his older brothers' shadows and thoroughly enjoyed himself. The morning meetings were usually interesting and gave him a lot of insight into current problems of the magical world, and the Queen was very nice and easy to talk to. She was also willing to discuss whatever information about the magical world he threw at her, and the afternoons in the library together with Sphinx were extremely enjoyable. The children got along so well that Ron had the impression as if – for the first time in his life – he had gained a good friend. _'Even if she's a girl,'_ he thought.

It was on a cold, snowy afternoon in December when Ron stumbled over a folder that caught his interest. _'Prophecies from the year 1000 till today'_ it was labelled, and Ron began to explore the content with curiosity.

"Sphinx, look at this," he called over to his friend, and the two children skimmed the long list together, only to stare at one of the last entries, wide-eyed.

"Prophecy between Harry Potter and Tom Riddle AKA Lord Voldemort," Sphinx read in surprise.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies," Ron read the content in disbelief.

"Do you think that was when he beat him as a baby?" he enquired.

Sphinx shook her head. "I don't think so," she said, pensively. "Look here, it still says 'Unfulfilled'. This must be something that's going to happen in the future."

"But how?" Ron asked, incredulously. "I thought Harry Potter killed You-Know-Who?"

"That's indeed strange," Sphinx admitted. "Let's go and ask Croaker about it. Maybe he knows something."

Carrying the folder, they headed to see Croaker, glad that he was just alone in his office.

"Some people think that he's not really dead, especially considering that no one found his body, only his wand," Croaker explained, pensively. "I'm not sure how he could not be dead though. Maybe he used some kind of very dark magic, but that I don't know for sure. I only know that this is said to be the reason why Harry Potter has to grow up with his muggle relatives. Dumbledore cast blood wards around their home to keep Harry safe from Death Eaters and possibly Voldemort."

"You say his name?" Sphinx enquired.

"Why not?" Croaker returned the question. "Apparently, people think he'd pop up behind them if they did so, but I don't believe that."

"That's true," Ron agreed, resolving to use the name instead of the ridiculously sounding 'You-Know-Who' that most people used.

HP

When he discussed the matter at dinner time, just when his older brothers had returned from Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays, his mother was very upset, and Percy predicted his imminent demise by the hands of the one who should not be named, causing the twins to tease him throughout their holidays.

HP

During the following weeks, the thought _'How can someone be dead but not really gone?'_ kept popping up in the front of Ron's mind, and when he met Sphinx again after the Christmas holidays, he told her, "I want to try to find out a bit about dark magic. You know Croaker said it could be very dark magic that Voldemort isn't really dead."

"Okay Mastermind, I'll help you," Sphinx replied pleasantly, and as soon as they were free to do their research in the library like every afternoon, they began to systematically search for books about dark magic.

Unfortunately, their research was not very efficient to say the least, and months later, they still did not have a clue how Voldemort had managed to cheat death.

HP

One day in spring, when Ron was visiting the Queen, he brought up the topic and discussed the matter with the Queen, who was taken aback at the idea of Voldemort being not really dead.

"Why don't you ask the older Unspeakables?" she suggested in a soft voice. "Maybe one of them has heard something like that."

"We asked Croaker once and he didn't know, but I'll ask him if there's anyone who might know," Ron replied, feeling very much reassured by the idea.

"I'm also wondering if Harry knows about the magical world," he changed the topic to another matter that had been bothered him for a while. "He's growing up with his muggle relatives, and from what I found in the Unspeakables' library about his mother's family, they seem to hate magic. I'm not sure of course though."

"Why don't we invite him here, so that you can meet him and tell him everything about the magical world in case he is unaware," the Queen suggested, causing Ron to gape at her in surprise.

"Is that possible?" he enquired, excitedly. "I'd love to meet him and help him find his way around the magical world. It's just that Dumbledore is said to have prohibited anyone to contact him in any way."

"I'll send someone to invite him for next Friday afternoon," the Queen promised, making Ron cast her a genuine smile, happy about his secret agreement with the Queen to take off his hood when they were alone.

HP

A couple of days later, Croaker introduced a very old Unspeakable to the children, whom they had not met before. He introduced him as Zeus and told them that he had been an Unspeakable for about one hundred years but had then retired and was now only occasionally visiting the library to look up something. Hearing about their inefficient research, Zeus remained pensive for a couple of minutes, and Sphinx and Mastermind already exchanged a confused look, when he finally spoke up.

"Horcruxes. He must have made Horcruxes. Look it up, you'll find it… wait." He rose from the chair he was occupying and retrieved a book from a shelf. "Read this. It'll help you, but let me warn you, this is very dark magic and shouldn't be known at all. No," he interrupted himself, taking back the book from Ron. "I'll give this to Croaker. You're too young to be confronted with such dark magic."

"Exactly," Croaker agreed upon hearing the story when the three entered his office. "I'll check it out and inform you," he promised, mumbling something like "Your mothers would kill me if I allowed you to read such a book."

HP

On Friday afternoon, Ron was extremely excited when he made his way to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen. After meeting her almost every week and talking about this and that, Ron had become to think of her like of a good friend. Today, however, was the day when Harry Potter would come to visit, so that he could give him an introduction to the magical world.

"I think I should put my hood on this time if Harry's going to join us," he said to the Queen, who nodded her agreement.

"I believe that's better, so that you won't get into trouble with the Unspeakables," she replied in a soft voice. "Harry should arrive any minute now."

"How is he going to get here?" Ron enquired with a combination of curiosity and excitement.

"I've sent someone to fetch him," the Queen replied, smiling, and explained, "I even sent someone to hand over his letter last week to make sure that he received the invitation."

Ron absentmindedly sipped his tea, while the Queen proceeded to ask questions about the magical world, which Ron was happy to answer as well as he could. He also informed her that they had found out that Voldemort had to have made Horcruxes, although he had to admit that he did not have a clue what they were. "The Unspeakables are looking into the matter though," he added, reassuringly, just when the door opened and a boy of about his age hesitantly stepped into the room, followed by one of the Queen's guards.

"Hello Harry," the Queen greeted him, making Ron think once more that she acted so normal, much different from what he had expected upon hearing about the British monarchy.

"Hi Harry," he echoed, greeting the other boy in a friendly voice, efficiently hiding his surprise at how the boy was dressed. He was wearing a black suit along with a light blue tie. None of the children, whom Ron had ever met, had been wearing suits, not even on occasions like Christmas parties.

"Err, excuse me, but I'm not Harry," the boy stammered, looking at them, wide-eyed.

"Who are you then?" the Queen enquired in a strict voice.

"I'm Dudley," the boy replied, seemingly frightened. "Harry's my cousin."

"Arthur," the Queen addressed the guard, who was still standing next to the visitor, "take the boy back home and bring the right one. It's Harry Potter who's supposed to visit us."

"I'm sorry," Dudley stammered. "My mother told me that it was surely me and not the freak who was supposed to be invited, so she told me to go with him," he added, pointing at the guard.

"Go now," the Queen said, sounding colder than Ron had ever heard her speak. "Harry Potter is not a freak by the way, and I can't wait to meet him."

"All right." Dudley's voice had almost become a whisper, before the guard pulled him out of the room.

"That was gross," Ron blurted out, staring at the Queen in disbelief.

"Extremely, but believe me that the boy's mother will be in trouble, when I send someone to enquire about the matter tomorrow," the Queen replied, smirking. "Now that we're going to have about two hours before our real Harry is supposed to arrive, do you have any way to get these kind of Unspeakable robes for me? I'd love to make a trip to Diagon Alley together with you, but of course I could only do such a thing incognito."

Ron nodded in understanding. "Let me ask the boss," he replied, before he telepathically contacted Croaker. 'Could we get one set of Unspeakable robes? The Queen would like me to take her to Diagon Alley wearing Unspeakable robes.'

'Of course, Mastermind. Come here to get them,' Croaker replied, immediately.

"I'll just go and fetch a set of robes," Ron informed the Queen and, hearing her approval, he popped straight into the Unspeakable Office, only to return five minutes later.

"This is fun," the Queen said, as she called her son Charles to let him know what she was going to do, before she covered herself with the Unspeakable robes and hood. "How's that?" she asked, sounding very different from her normal voice.

"No one will know who you are," Charles confirmed in apparent amazement.

"I think so too," Ron added, only to ask, "Where exactly would you like to go?"

"I just wish to see Diagon Alley, nothing specific," he was informed and gently held on to the Queen's arm, before he popped both of them right in front of Gringotts.

If anyone noticed Ron and the Queen in Diagon Alley, they would believe that they were two Unspeakables patrolling the street.

Ron gave the Queen a small tour around the wizarding shopping centre, and the Queen seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself.

 _'_ _That was fun. We should have taken Sphinx with us,'_ Ron thought, when he readied himself to pop them back into Buckingham Palace.

"Thank you so much, Mastermind," the Queen told him upon their arrival. "That was the most enjoyable excursion that I had during the last fifty years."

Ron chuckled. "You're very welcome, and we can do that at any time if your schedule allows it," he replied, smiling, even if the hood was covering his smile.

HP

Finally, Harry Potter arrived. Ron stared at the small boy in disbelief. _'He looks as if he was even younger than Ginny,'_ he thought, taking in the rags in which the boy was dressed with disdain. _'He's also very skinny in contrary to his cousin.'_

He was brought back to reality, when the Queen and Harry exchanged their greetings. "Hello Harry, I'm the Mini Unspeakable Mastermind," he told him, causing the smaller boy to look at him in clear surprise.

It was already tea time, and the Queen instructed a servant to serve tea and scones in the adjacent dining room, where she motioned the boys to take seats around the table.

Noticing that the other boy seemed very frightened, Ron gently instructed Harry to follow him and made him sit at the table, lowering himself in the seat next to him, while the Queen took a spot opposite of them.

"Now Harry, why we've called you here," she began to speak in a soft voice, "is to enquire if you're aware of the magical world."

Harry's face took on a horrified expression, and he replied in a barely audible voice, "I know that there's no such thing as magic. My relatives have told me that."

"Nonsense," the Queen contradicted, firmly. "There is magic, and you're a wizard just like Mastermind and just like I'm a witch. Have you never done strange things? Things that your relatives aren't able to do?"

"Yes," Harry replied. It was almost a whisper, when he continued, "That's why I'm a freak."

"No Harry, you're not a freak. You're a wizard like me, and from September onwards, we're going to attend Hogwarts together," Ron informed him, causing a long discussion about Hogwarts and the magical world.

They only had to finish their conversation, when one of the guards disturbed them informing the Queen that she had an appointment in an hour.

"Oh dears, I'll have to get ready for my appointment," the Queen muttered. "Harry, I'm very happy that I had the chance to meet you," she added in a soft voice. "If you're interested to learn more about the magical world I suggest that you come here every Friday afternoon. That's when Mastermind usually visits, and even if I might not be available the whole afternoon, the two of you can enjoy each other's company. Someone will of course fetch you from your relatives' home and take you back there in the evening."

"I'd love that," Harry replied, smiling broadly. "Thank you so much for inviting me and for telling me about the magical world. I'm very happy, and I can't wait to get to go to Hogwarts. Thank you, too, Mastermind."

"You're welcome," Ron replied, happily, ecstatic to be able to meet Harry Potter once a week. _'Maybe I can become his friend even before we'll attend Hogwarts,'_ he thought in excitement. "Excuse me," he addressed the Queen, as he observed Harry leaving together with Arthur, "how are you going to punish his aunt and uncle?"

"Did I understand it correctly that Professor Dumbledore made Harry live with his relatives, because he's the saviour of the magical world and blood wards around their house are supposed to protect him from evil wizards?" the Queen enquired.

"Yes, I think so," Ron agreed, taking off his hood.

"And this so-called family is at least verbally abusing him," the Queen said, apparently more to herself than to Ron, who was wrapped up in thoughts about the other boy's behaviour.

 _'_ _The twins play pranks on me all the time, and Percy's sometimes unbearable, but still, no one has ever called me a freak or worse, and I've always clothes that fit, even if they're hand-me-downs,'_ he thought, suddenly realising that he felt very loved by his family.

A slightly evil grin crossed the Queen's face, while she remained pensive for a moment, causing Ron to look at her in expectation.


	3. Chapter 3

**Mastermind**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

 **COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC.**

 _It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.  
_ _Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse_ _._ _Thanks a lot to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!_

* * *

At dinner time, Ron told his parents, Ginny and Bill the story of Harry's first appointment with the Queen, and everyone was appalled at the Dursleys' behaviour. "He was even dressed in rags," Ron told them, "and he's smaller than Ginny."

"Why don't you bring him here the next time?" his mother suggested. "That way, I can adjust his clothes for him or better yet transfigure them into something nicer."

"Oh yeah, bring him here," Ginny piped up, causing Ron to stare at his sister in shock.

 _'_ _Oh no, Harry's going to be my friend, not Ginny's,'_ he thought and suggested, "I'm going to take him to Diagon Alley anyway. I can buy a new T-shirt and trousers for him."

"Ron," his father spoke up, "that's very generous of you, and I appreciate very much that you've bought something for Ginny and the twins from your own money, but you don't have to do that for Harry. Just take him to Gringotts and tell the goblins to lead him to his family vault. The Potters are one of the rich, old families, and Harry will have a lot of money. He can take some from his vault, and then the two of you can go shopping together."

"All right," Ron agreed, smiling.

"How's the Queen now going to get revenge on the Dursleys?" Ginny suddenly enquired, causing Ron to continue with his story.

"She told me that she'd send two guards to take turns staying with Harry during the five months until he's going to leave for Hogwarts," he quickly explained, grinning, only to add, "They're always going to be with him when he's at home and will stay in front of his room, even during the nights."

"Oh Merlin, his relatives will so like that," Molly blurted out in apparent amusement.

"Too bad that they're most likely going to be muggle guards," Bill spoke up, grinning. "Otherwise, it would be especially fun for them."

"Don't tell Dumbledore about this though, Mum," Ron warned his mother, knowing that she for some reason seemed to like the old wizard.

"We won't," his father promised, sincerely.

HP

Two weeks after he had met Harry for the first time, Ron was allowed to take his new friend to Diagon Alley under the condition that they were both covered with Unspeakable robes.

Ron smirked, as he handed Harry the robes. "They think that it might be too dangerous for us without these," he explained, observing impatiently how Harry put the robes on. "All right then, hold on tightly," he instructed the boy and held his arm in a firm grip, before he popped them both to a side street right around the corner from Gringotts.

"This is Gringotts, the wizarding bank," he explained and told Harry that his parents had probably left him a vault full of gold and other belongings. "You better take your hood off here though, so that they can recognise you."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise at the news, however, he obeyed and followed Ron inside, seemingly glad when Ron addressed one of the goblins on his behalf.

"Good day, I hope that your gold is flowing and your enemies fear you," he told the goblin, having heard from Bill how to efficiently get onto a goblin's good side. "Harry Potter wishes to see his vault."

"Does Harry Potter have his key?" the goblin enquired, causing Harry to shake his head, seemingly shocked.

"Very well, a drop of blood will suffice," the goblin mumbled and motioned them to wait until another goblin came and took them to Harry's vault.

Ten minutes later, they were back in the sunny alley, and Ron led his new friend to Madam Malkin, who happily equipped Harry with a new and fitting outfit.

"We'll come back for robes shortly before we go to Hogwarts," Ron told him. "You might still grow until then."

"Hopefully," Harry commented, seemingly happy with his new clothes.

It was in the early evening that Harry returned to his relatives' home with one of his guards in tow and his jeans pockets full of shrunken objects from the magical world, which he only had to tap with his hand to return them to their full size.

"I suggest that you read _Hogwarts: A History_ first," Ron told him, when they separated. "That gives you a good insight into Hogwarts and the magical world."

"All right Mastermind. Thank you so much for everything. I can't wait to come back here next Friday," Harry replied in clear enthusiasm.

"Me too, bye," Ron replied, smiling under his hood.

HP

One day, Croaker gathered Ron and Sphinx in his office and informed them, "As Zeus told you a few months ago, Voldemort appears to have made Horcruxes."

Ron gave the older wizard a questioning look, and Croaker explained, "To make a Horcrux, he split a part of his soul off, which is then housed in a certain container, so that in case he dies, part of his soul is still alive. This is what probably happened, so right now, his soul is probably searching for a way to get a corporate body in order to once again become a normal human being."

"So that means that according to the prophecy, Harry has to kill him again," Sphinx spoke up, matter-of-factly.

"Well, in principle yes," Croaker admitted. "The problem is that we believe that he could have made more than one Horcrux, up to six, probably."

"And how do we know that, and where can we find them?" Ron enquired, causing Croaker to sigh.

"My colleagues are now looking for them, and in fact they already found one. We hope to be able to locate them all during the next couple of months, possibly before Voldemort somehow finds his way back into the open."

"I hope so," Sphinx added, sighing.

"There's something else that I'd like to discuss with the two of you," Croaker continued. "It's just two more months until you'll be students at Hogwarts, and we need to decide if and how to go on with your Unspeakables training. Is it all right to believe that you're both interested in continuing being Mini Unspeakables?"

"Yes!" The children's affirmative response came automatically and simultaneously.

"Very well." Croaker nodded, seemingly contented. "I shall speak with the headmaster in advance and inform him about the matter. I wish you to come here on three evenings a week, preferably on Monday, Wednesday and Friday after dinner. During these evenings, you will first be given the information from our morning meetings, and then you'll have training with Horus and myself. In addition, you'll still keep up with your visits to the Prime Minister and the Queen, which I have moved to Saturday afternoons. Do you agree with all of this?"

When both children voiced their agreement, he continued, "Seeing that there is that prophecy about Harry Potter and Voldemort, I suggest that you keep an eye on the Potter boy, provided that it's possible, depending on which houses you get sorted in. I suppose that Dumbledore will see to it that he's going to be trained, but if necessary, we have to teach him accordingly. Anyway, I ask the two of you to take care of him without him knowing about the matter."

"We'll do that," Ron promised, quickly. "I know him quite well already, since we've been meeting every week for three months now."

HP

Ten-year-old Harry Potter sighed in anticipation as he readied himself to travel to London together with his guard like he did every Friday afternoon. Until about three months ago, he had been living in the cupboard under the stairs, had barely received any food apart from bread and the occasional slice of cheese and had been forced to wear his fat cousin's hand-me-downs. He had not even been aware that he was a wizard. His relatives had always called him a freak who wasn't wanted by anyone.

Then one day, his life had been completely turned around, when the Queen of all people invited him to visit her. On that occasion, he had learned about magic, had met a boy of his own age who was a wizard like himself, while the Queen herself was a witch, and he had received a huge surprise upon realising that he was in fact the heir of a very old and rich, magical family.

Before he returned to the Dursleys' house, the Queen had assigned him two of her guards to always stay with him in his relatives' house. His relatives had been horrified. They hurriedly had made Dudley's second bedroom available for him, had bought him proper clothes to wear, and the guards had made it very clear that he was to eat three full meals a day.

What made Harry the happiest, however, was the fact that he was able to meet with the Queen and Mastermind on a weekly basis. They told him a lot about the magical world, and the Queen even went as far as lending him a book about some aspect of magic every week. Moreover, they assured him that he would leave the Dursleys and go to a magical boarding school from September onwards.

 _'_ _I can't wait to go to Hogwarts,'_ Harry thought, wondering if he would have gotten to know about Hogwarts at all if not for the Queen and Mastermind.

 _'_ _It's so much easier to travel with Mastermind,'_ he thought, when he got into the government's car together with his guard. _'It takes an hour for the driver to get us to Buckingham Palace, but if Mastermind was here, we'd be there in a blink. It's cool how he can just pop us somewhere, although he's only ten like myself. I wished he could teach me how to do that,'_ he thought, longingly, however, knew that Mastermind was not allowed to teach him magic that he had learned with the Unspeakables. _'I hope I'll get to know who he really is when we're at Hogwarts,'_ he worried, while he absentmindedly observed the landscape flew by on their way to London.

"Don't worry, I'm going to wait for you on the muggle platform at King's Cross," Mastermind promised, when Harry voiced his concerns a few hours later. "Are you up to flying?" he then enquired, only to add, "Today, my older brothers are going to come back from Hogwarts, so my parents and my little sister are going to King's Cross to pick them up. So we could go to my home and fly for about an hour."

"I'd love that," Harry replied in surprise, recalling that Mastermind had told him once that his mother was not supposed to know about him because she might speak to Dumbledore about him, which might get them into trouble. "Are you sure that it's safe though?" he asked, worriedly.

"Of course," Mastermind replied, reassuringly, "and if anything happens, we can just pop away at any time."

HP

Ron loved to fly, and during the last few months, he had been missing his brothers badly, not only because of the entertainment by his twin brothers, but also because he loved it if everyone flew together.

He noticed that Harry eyed the broom with apparent apprehension. "Are you afraid?" he asked, compassionately. "You don't have to. It's great fun." He carefully showed his friend how to mount his broom and take into the air, only to realise that Harry seemed to be a natural flyer. _'He's at least as good as Ginny and me,'_ he thought in disbelief.

"You're a great flyer," he commended the other boy, when a sudden thought crossed his mind. _'I just hope that he won't get a spot on the house Quidditch team while I end without one.'_ While he was absentmindedly looking for the Snitch that he had released a while ago, he became so wrapped up in miserable thoughts that he became inattentive and suddenly felt himself losing the grip on his broom. _'Oh no!'_ he thought, panicking.

"Mastermind!"

While Ron was tumbling downwards, he heard Harry's shout, causing him to realise, _'Yes, I'm an Unspeakable and can pop myself.'_ Shortly before crashing into the ground, he managed to pop himself to the ground, where he sat down in shock.

 _'_ _Stupid me,'_ he thought. _'If Harry's better, then I won't mind. I'm an Unspeakable, and I can do things that others can't.'_ With that idea in the front of his mind, he felt his jealousy towards Harry vanish.

"Mastermind, are you all right?" Harry enquired in apparent concern, giving him a strange look that Ron dismissed as fear.

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry for scaring you. I just didn't pay attention," Ron replied.

"Your hood," Harry suddenly said, pointing at Ron's head.

 _'_ _Oh no, my hood's come down while I was falling,'_ he realised and quickly pulled up his hood, before he once more took into the air.

Two minutes later, Harry managed to catch the Snitch, and Ron commended him greatly, feeling very happy for his friend that he seemed to like flying and was good at it.

"We can always go flying when we're at Hogwarts," he said, casually, as he put the brooms back into the cupboard. "Let's return to Buckingham Palace. I so love that strawberry cake that they made for us the last few times."

"Yes, their cake is always delicious," Harry agreed, smiling.

HP

Harry readily held out his hands for Mastermind to pop them back to London. _'He looks nice with his red hair and the funny speckles on his face,'_ he thought. _'Too bad that he always has to wear his hood. I wonder if he's going to wear his Unspeakable robes at Hogwarts, too.'_

"No Harry, no one must even know that I'm an Unspeakable," Ron replied, seemingly shocked when Harry voiced his question. "You mustn't talk about it to anyone, do you understand me?"

"I promise," Harry reassured his friend, smiling.

HP

 _'_ _Harry's really nice,'_ Ron thought, feeling very happy to have found such a great friend. _'I just wished I could meet him more often.'_ While Ron spent the whole day in the Unspeakables office together with Sphinx, either training or going on small errands for Croaker or the others, Harry had told him that he was outright bored during the holidays.

"Is there any way we could use the summer holidays to give Harry some training, too?" he once asked Croaker and explained, "Before, the Dursleys used him as a house-elf, but since the Queen's guards have come to stay with him around the clock, he has nothing to do but to read his books."

"We could have him come here every morning after our meeting and teach him Defence and Attack spells," Croaker replied, pensively. "You must not teach him Unspeakable ways of Apparition or Telepathy though. Always remember that he's not an Unspeakable. We can't even invite him to become one, as we'd need his guardian's consent."

"And that's Dumbledore," Ron added, grimly.

"Exactly," Croaker confirmed, smirking. "At least so far. If we find out that he further neglected the boy other than placing him with his atrocious relatives, we might force a change in the guardianship."

"Can you do that?" Ron enquired, wide-eyed, causing Croaker to grin.

"There's almost nothing that the Unspeakables aren't capable of," he assured his Mini Unspeakable. "Before we do anything against Dumbledore though, we should wait how Potter's first Hogwarts year turns out. If necessary, we can still act before the end of the school year. I trust that you keep me informed."

"I will sir," Ron confirmed, before he went to the owl room to send an owl to Harry with the instruction to come to the small park near the Dursleys' house every morning before nine o'clock, as he would pick him up there for training right after his morning meeting from the following day onwards. _'I hope that he'll be happy,'_ he thought, as he cast the wandless spell at the bird that made it pop itself right to Harry. _'Too bad that I'm not allowed to teach Mum the spell. She always complains that Errol is so slow,'_ he mused and quickly went to the library to look for Sphinx. _'I hope that she won't mind that I invited Harry here.'_

HP

During the following weeks, Ron and Sphinx took turns with Croaker and other Unspeakables teaching Harry. To Ron's relief, they still had much time for their own training, which also consisted of Defence and Attack spells as well as Occlumency and Legilimency.

"It's important that you learn both, although Occlumency is the most important now that you're leaving for Hogwarts," Croaker informed them. "In fact, I've cast a spell at the headmaster that makes him know that you're Unspeakables and will be absent from Hogwarts from time to time, however, that knowledge is buried deep in his mind, and he won't be able to easily access it. You don't want him to actively find out by using Legilimency on you. The Potions professor is also said to be a master Legilimens."

"Won't Harry need Occlumency as well then?" Sphinx enquired in a soft voice.

"No, because I'm going to cast a spell at him that will let him keep everything that he learned here, but buries deep in his mind where he studied during the summer," Croaker assured the Mini Unspeakables.

HP

At Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk and reached out for the parchment that his deputy was holding out to him with eagerness.

"Harry will attend Hogwarts," he summarized the letter. "Thank Merlin."

"Yes, thank Merlin that he managed to survive his atrocious relatives so far," Minerva replied in an upset tone. "And that they even let him have the letter, even if it was sent through owl post."

"Ah Minerva," Albus replied, leaning back in his seat. "Maybe the Dursleys aren't so bad. You'll see. The child is going to come to Hogwarts soon in any case."

"I believe that we should send someone to take little Harry shopping though, considering that he was raised by muggles in the muggle world," Minerva demanded, causing Albus to let out a deep sigh.

"Oh well, maybe you're right," he concurred for once. "I'll ask Severus to take the boy to Diagon Alley then."

"No," Minerva cut in, seemingly angered. "Not Severus. He already despises the child, although he hasn't even seen him during the last ten years. Please send anyone else. Or I can go myself if you wish."

"I'll send Hagrid then," Albus decided and leaned into the fireplace to summon the half giant.

"Hagrid, tomorrow is Harry Potter's birthday, and I'd like you to go and collect him in the morning and take him to Diagon Alley to buy his school supplies," he instructed the large wizard, knowing that he was absolutely loyal to him.

"Of cou'se P'fessor Dumbledore sir," Hagrid replied, seemingly thrilled at the unexpected task.

HP

Ron felt extremely excited. Today was Harry's birthday, and he and the Queen had thought of a special surprise for the boy. They had invited all children from the old and noble houses, who were going to attend Hogwarts together with Harry and him, to Buckingham Palace for a birthday party for Harry. Croaker had helped Ron to write the invitations and had charmed them, so that no one but the children themselves knew whose birthday party it was. Their parents were only aware that it was one of their future classmates, a member of one of the ancient houses. Even if everyone in Britain's magical world was aware of Harry Potter's birthday, Croaker was a master of his art and had prevented them from making the connection.

"You're coming to the party, too, aren't you?" Ron asked Sphinx, still not sure if she was a pureblood witch.

"Of course," Sphinx replied in clear amusement. "I'll see you there."

"All right," Ron agreed, when they both made their way home to get dressed for the party and fetch their presents. _'I wonder who she is,'_ he thought in excitement. _'At least I hope that I'll recognise her.'_

HP

Harry for once used the fireplace to travel to the Queen's Floo chamber. _'Strange,'_ he mused. Usually, Mastermind just popped them both to Buckingham Palace after their training in the ministry. However, on this day, he had told him that he had to go home for a while and would join him later.

 _'_ _Oh well, this is by far the best birthday that I ever had,'_ Harry thought, recalling how Croaker, Mastermind and Sphinx had congratulated him like people talked to others who were worth their birthdays.

HP

While all eleven-year-old pureblood children travelled to Buckingham Place using their Portkeys, which they had received from Mini Unspeakable Mastermind, _'whoever that was'_ , Albus Dumbledore stared at Hagrid in disbelief.

"Harry has gone to visit the Queen?" he asked, incredulously. "And you believed such a thing?"

"Albus, he didn't. That's why he waited until now for Harry to come back," Minerva spoke up, seemingly impatient. "I'll go and ask Arabella. Maybe she knows where he is."

"Leave it Minerva. It's too late to go shopping now anyway. I'll send Severus in the morning," Albus replied. However, before he could prevent Minerva from leaving, his deputy stepped into the fireplace shouting, "Arabella Figg's place."

HP

The Queen made the children introduce themselves to her and to each other, before she made them congratulate the birthday boy and motioned them to take a seat at the large table for tea and cake.

While everyone was enjoying Harry's birthday cake, which was the largest cake that Ron had ever seen, he let his eyes wander over the girls in attendance. _'Susan Bones, Lavender Brown, Daphne Greengrass, Hannah Abbott, Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson,'_ he realised. _'I wonder which of them Sphinx is.'_ If Sphinx noticed that he gave the girls a questioning look, she did not react. None of the girls showed him any sign of recognition or other – much to Ron's disappointment. _'Oh well, whoever it is, she has to pretend to not know me well,' he thought, 'just like I had to pretend not knowing Harry. I hope I'll get to know who it is before Hogwarts in any case.'_

He was brought out of his musings when it was time for Harry to open his presents, which were piled on a side table. Unfortunately, the Queen had to leave, as she had other duties, however, there were a lot of books and other items, which their classmates' parents had deemed useful for a soon-to-be Hogwarts first-year, so that everyone became distracted very fast.

The best present, at least in Ron's opinion, was the one from the Queen: A Nimbus 2000, the newest broom on the market, which only had been released a few days ago. _'Cool,'_ Ron thought, smirking at Harry's stunned expression.

HP

When Harry walked to the park the following morning, he felt extremely happy, even though it was raining cats and dogs on this first of August. His first birthday party ever had turned out absolutely amazing. The children were all very nice, no one had called him a freak, he had received many presents, and he had returned to the Dursleys with the impression as if he had already gained a few friends.

One of them was Draco Malfoy, a very blonde boy. He had extended his hand to Harry and asked if he wanted to become friends. Delighted, Harry had replied, "I'd like that" and had spent some time speaking with the boy as well as with the other wizards who had been nice enough to come for his birthday party.

 _'_ _Ron is Mastermind,'_ he thought, grinning, as he carried his broom along, hoping that Ron would find a way for them to fly after their training.

HP

At the same time, Severus Snape stepped out of Arabella Figg's fireplace. With a flick of his wand, he cleared the soot from his robes, before he grudgingly made his way to the Dursleys' residence to take the child of his childhood nemesis to shop for his school supplies.


	4. Chapter 4

**Mastermind**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

 **COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC.**

 _It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.  
_ _Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse_ _._ _Thanks a lot to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!_

* * *

"You!" Petunia shrieked upon recognising Severus. "What do you want?"

"Believe me Petunia, I wouldn't be here if I had a choice in the matter," Severus drawled. "The headmaster instructed me to take the boy to get his school supplies."

"The freak's not here," Petunia replied sharply. "He's gone to see the Queen."

Severus scoffed. "Don't try my intelligence," he warned the sister of his best friend. "Where's the boy?"

"He's gone to see the Queen," Petunia insisted. "He goes there every morning."

"Harry Potter, best friend of the Queen of England," Severus sneered and unobtrusively cast the Legilimency spell, only to learn that Potter had indeed left the house together with what seemed to be one of the Queen's guards.

 _'_ _Someone must have completely changed her memory,'_ Severus thought in concern and asked, "When is he going to be back?"

"Usually after lunch, but sometimes, he doesn't come back before the evening," Petunia informed him.

"Tell him to be here tomorrow morning, so that I can take him shopping," Severus instructed her in a no-nonsense voice.

"I'll tell him," Petunia promised.

Without any further word, Severus turned on his heels and strode away, apparating away as soon as he was out of sight.

HP

The following morning, Harry left even earlier than usual and hid behind a row of trees in the park to wait for Mastermind to come and pick him up, thinking, _'I'm not going to give up my training, just because someone from Hogwarts suddenly remembers that I'm here after almost ten years.'_

HP

Minerva McGonagall was just discussing the timetables for the upcoming school year with the headmaster, when a seemingly unnerved Severus Snape stormed into the headmaster's office.

"Albus, I'm done looking after Potter," he shouted without further greeting. "Neither Potter nor his aunt were at home in spite of my clear instructions."

"Thank you Severus," Albus replied, surprisingly calmly. "We'll just leave it for the time being. Harry should show up on the first of September, and if not, we can still go and fetch him, and if he comes to Hogwarts without any school supplies, we can still see about it."

Severus mumbled something that sounded like "Don't count on me" to Minerva's ears, before he stormed out of the office, causing Fawkes to let out a series of trills, which sounded as annoyed as she felt.

HP

That very afternoon, Mastermind and Sphinx took Harry to Diagon Alley to shop for their school supplies together.

While Ron and Harry decided to buy owls, Sphinx informed them that she did not see the necessity. "From what I heard, there are hundreds of school owls which we can use to write home, so I'm not going to buy one. I'd rather have something else as familiar. I'll think about it. We still have four weeks' time."

"Look, these are very pretty," Harry suddenly exclaimed, causing Ron to look at a couple of snowy owls.

He immediately agreed, and ten minutes later, the children left the shop carrying two bird cages occupied by snowy owls.

"I'll name her Hedwig," Harry stated, looking at his owl. "Do you like the name?"

When Harry received a confirming sound from his owl, Ron addressed his. "How about Hildegard for you?"

Both owls seemed to be contented with their names, and soon the children were finished with their shopping and ready to return home.

"I can't wait for the first of September," Harry said, when Ron accompanied him to Buckingham Palace, where his guard was waiting for him.

"Yeah, me too," Ron agreed, unconditionally.

HP

Sphinx arrived in the entrance hall, to where her parents had instructed her to pop when she returned instead of just popping into her room, so that they knew if she was at home.

"Mum, I'm back," she shouted, before she began to laugh her head off. "Boys are so stupid," she blurted out, chuckling. "I think he still hasn't figured out who I am, although we met without the robes and hoods at Harry's birthday party the day before yesterday. Harry doesn't know either, at least I think so, but Ron… I mean, we've been training together for more than a year already."

"Some boys are just slow," her mother replied in a soothing voice, "although he doesn't seem to be exactly stupid, considering that the Unspeakables named him Mastermind."

"No, he isn't stupid. He's a great strategist," she replied, still chuckling, as she began to carry her shopping bags upstairs.

HP

Finally, the first of September approached. Feeling thoroughly annoyed by the usual morning chaos at the Burrow, where everyone was making last attempts of packing, before they all travelled to King's Cross together, Ron decided to head to the Unspeakable Office for the usual morning meeting.

"But Ronniekins…"

"… It's custom that we travel to King's Cross all together," his twin brothers informed him in their usual singsong, which used to drive him nuts.

"Well, you can do that, but I'm going to the Ministry, and then I'll pop right to the station from there," Ron insisted, causing his mother to throw his father a helpless look.

"All right Ron, but please see to it that you're on time," Arthur said to his youngest boy.

"I will. I promised Harry to be on the muggle platform at ten," Ron replied and cast a shrinking charm at his luggage, glad that he had instructed Hildegard to fly ahead. Donning his Unspeakable robes, he popped right into the Office, where the morning meeting was just about to begin.

"Keep in mind that the Philosophers' Stone is said to be somewhere hidden at Hogwarts," Croaker reminded him of what he had told him a month ago. "Try to protect it if you get to know where it is, and tell us if there's anything that we should know."

"I will," Ron promised. "Thanks for everything, and I'll see you on Monday evening." With that, he popped right to King's Cross, banishing his Unspeakable robes as he went.

HP

"Ron!" Harry noticed him as soon as he arrived on the platform. "Where's your luggage?"

"Shrunken in my pocket," Ron replied, smiling. "Shall I shrink yours?" he offered. "Just tell Hedwig to fly to Hogwarts. Hildegard is already on her way."

As soon as Harry had allowed his owl to fly to the school, Ron quickly shrank Harry's luggage, before he guided him through the wall onto platform nine and three quarters.

Ron and Harry found themselves an empty compartment, which was easy, as the platform only slowly began to fill with students and their parents and the train was still empty. They made themselves comfortable and relaxed as they chatted away.

Thirty minutes later, a boy hesitantly opened the door to their compartment, shyly looking inside.

"Neville," Ron immediately greeted the boy, whom he remembered from Harry's birthday party.

"Ni Neville," Harry echoed, "come in."

"Hi Ron and Harry," Neville replied, gratefully, as he joined them.

Shortly later, a girl with busy brown hair stuck her head inside. "May I sit here?"

"Of course, come in," Ron was the first to reply.

"Are you a first-year too?" Neville enquired.

"Yes, I'm Hermione," the girl introduced herself, "Hermione Granger."

"We're Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom," Neville informed the girl, just when the train finally set to move.

The four soon-to-be first-years spent the train ride talking about everything that came into their minds, interrupted by the occasional visit from others, and before they knew it, it was time to pull over their school robes and get off the train at Hogsmeade.

HP

Together with Harry and Neville, Ron followed Hagrid's instruction to head to the boats that were waiting to take the first-years to Hogwarts via the lake.

"According to the twins, this is the best view onto Hogwarts," Ron informed his friends - at least he had the impression as if Neville had already become a friend.

Soon, they were able to confirm that the twins had been right. The view from the lake onto the beautifully illuminated castle was just gorgeous, and the nearer they came to Hogwarts, the more excited Ron felt - just like his friends.

Arriving at the castle, they were greeted by Professor McGonagall, who was the head of house of all of his older brothers. _'I'm surely going to be sorted into Gryffindor, too,'_ Ron thought. _'I just hope that Harry and Neville will be there, too. Oh and Sphinx as well. Maybe being together with them is even more important than being in Gryffindor.'_

Finally, McGonagall led them into the Great Hall, where they came to stand right in front of the high table.

Ron eagerly watched how the girls, who had attended Harry's birthday party a month ago, were sorted, knowing that one of them had to be Sphinx. However, only one of them, Lavender, was sorted into Gryffindor, two into Hufflepuff and three into Slytherin. Neville became a Gryffindor, but to Ron's shock, Harry was sent to Slytherin. _'Oh Merlin, I need to keep an eye on Harry. How am I going to do that if I'm in Gryffindor and he in Slytherin?'_ he wondered, horrified. _'Croaker will be so disappointed,'_ he thought, just when Professor McGonagall called him to meet Sopho, the Sorting Hat.

Ron sat on the stool, trying to prevent himself from panicking. _'I want to be together with Sphinx, but I must keep an eye on Harry,'_ he thought, terrified. _'That's close to impossible.'_

'And why would that be?' a small voice suddenly spoke right into his mind.

'I'm supposed to keep an eye on Harry Potter,' Ron thought to the Hat. 'But I'm also good friends with Sphinx, even if I don't know what her real name is. Could you perhaps re-sort Harry and put him and me into the same house as Sphinx?'

'I believe that I'm the one who makes the decisions here. In fact, I should put you into Hufflepuff, but since I'm in a good mood, I'll at least partly fulfil your request,' the Hat replied before shouting into the Great Hall, "Slytherin".

 _'At least together with Harry,'_ Ron thought in relief. Smiling, he handed the Hat back to Professor McGonagall. Just when he set to walk towards the Slytherin table, he heard Percy mumble something like "A disgrace for the family".

 _'_ _Stupid git,'_ Ron thought and slipped into the empty space between Draco Malfoy, who was sitting next to Harry, and Blaise Zabini.

'I've been sorted into Slytherin together with Harry,' he telepathically informed Croaker like he had promised the older wizard in the morning. 'I don't know where Sphinx is though, because I don't know who she is,' he added.

Croaker's response came instantly. 'Thanks for the information, Mastermind. Enjoy your time at Hogwarts, and I'm sure that you'll find out about Sphinx eventually. I'll see to it that you're going to be in a room together with Harry,' the Head Unspeakable then promised and asked, 'Is Professor Snape attending the feast in the Great Hall?'

'Yes,' Ron replied in confusion.

HP

Only after the house meeting in Slytherin, during which Professor Snape held a monologue about house unity and what it meant to be a Slytherin, did Ron realise what Croaker had meant earlier. In contrary to Gryffindor, Slytherin students were not living in dormitories but in small rooms with only two students. Ron could barely believe his luck upon realising that he was going to share a room with Harry.

Since curfew for the first-years began immediately following the house meeting, Ron and Harry retired to their room and unpacked their luggage. They were just about to climb into bed, when their head of house entered the room.

"How strange, I was sure that I had paired Harry Potter with Draco Malfoy," Snape muttered to himself, before he asked if the boys had any questions.

"No sir," Ron and Harry replied, simultaneously, before they exchanged a glance and chuckled.

"Very well, good night then," Snape said in a much friendlier voice than Ron had anticipated from all the stories that he had heard from his older brothers.

"Maybe Snape is friendlier to the students in his own house," Harry guessed when Ron voiced his thought.

"That could be. I hope so," Ron replied, thoughtfully.

HP

When Ron and Harry readied themselves for breakfast in the morning, Ron could not help asking Harry, "Do you have any idea who Sphinx might be?"

Harry cast him a surprised look. "I don't know. I can imagine that she's a second or third year though."

"No," Ron replied in exasperation, "she is in our year, I just don't know who she is."

"Oh all right." Harry nodded in understanding. "Sorry Ron, but I've no idea."

HP

Breakfast at the Slytherin table was a funny affair. While the older students told the first-years everything about the professors who were sitting at the high table, Ron and Harry studied their timetables, before they proceeded to look at the headmaster in disdain, knowing that he was the one who had sent Harry to his abusive relatives.

Ron realised in surprise that everyone at the Slytherin table including their own classmates were very friendly and seemed to be nice enough to get along with. _'Strange, I don't know why Percy and the twins always mocked the Slytherins,'_ he thought. _'I somehow like being in Slytherin.'_

His peace and quiet was greatly disturbed, however, when the owls flew into the Great Hall to deliver the mail. Ron realised in shock that Errol, his parents' owl, was among them and above all was carrying a red envelope.

"A howler," he muttered, horrified.

"You better open it quickly. Otherwise, it'll only become louder," the girl, who was sitting opposite of Ron and Harry, advised him, causing Ron to take the parchment from the owl with shaking fingers.

 _'_ _Ronald Bilius Weasley,'_ his mother's voice began to sound all over the Great Hall.

 _'_ _Since centuries, our family has been on the light side and sorted into Gryffindor. How dare you let yourself be sorted into Slytherin of all houses. I tell you now, if you ever become a Death Eater, you're going to be kicked out of the family. It's a disgrace! Before you make any decisions or let your housemates talk you into anything, listen to Percy's advice.'_

With that, Mrs. Weasley's voice stopped, and the letter shredded itself, leaving a stunned Ron sitting at the Slytherin table.

 _'_ _I just hope not everyone heard that,'_ Ron thought, inwardly groaning in realisation, when Neville cast him a pitiful look from the Gryffindor table.

"Come on boys, you're running late for the first morning class," a girl suddenly addressed them, causing Ron and Harry to hurriedly rise from their seats and follow their classmates to the Transfiguration classroom.

HP

"Look there, Neville and Hermione," Harry whispered to him, when they entered the Transfiguration classroom, causing the two Slytherins to make a beeline to the empty seats next to their Gryffindor friends.

"Harry, Ron, you're supposed to sit here," Draco called them to the other side of the room. "You're sitting on the Gryffindor side."

"Does it matter?" Ron asked in surprise.

"No, it doesn't," Professor McGonagall informed him, choosing that instant to transform back from her Animagus form. "Five points to Slytherin each, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter, for attempting to overcome the house rivalry."

"Thank you Professor," Ron blurted out, smiling.

"Thank you Professor," Harry echoed.

During the rest of the class, both Ron and Harry even managed to gain five more points each for their house, as they, Hermione and Draco were the only ones who were able to change their match into a needle.

 _'_ _Good beginning,'_ Ron thought, feeling very contented with himself, when he followed his classmates to the dungeons.

In the Potions classroom, the four first-years once again decided to sit in their mixed manner. While Harry paired up with Hermione, Ron sat next to Neville. To his surprise, the class passed quite well, too, in contrary to Ron's expectations after hearing all his older brothers complain about Snape. The professor was at least friendly to the Slytherins, and when Ron was able to save his neighbour, Neville, from blowing up his cauldron, Snape even commended him and awarded five points to Slytherin.

"I like Hogwarts," Ron whispered to Harry, when they separated from Hermione and Neville upon entering the Great Hall.

"Yeah, me too," Harry replied, grinning.

HP

They were almost finished eating lunch, when their head of house strode behind the corner of the Slytherin table where the first-years were gathered.

"During the hour between the last afternoon class and dinner, you may do as you wish, for example, study in the library, however, during the evenings, I expect you to study in the common room together with your work group. Your work groups are now up on the board in the common room. When you return from your last class today, go to the common room and check your work group. There are four students in each work group. If you encounter any problems, we might or might not be able to remedy the matter. I shall be in my office."

 _'_ _Oh Merlin, I just hope I'll be together with Harry,'_ Ron thought, wearily eyeing the professor. _'Some people, like Goyle and Crabbe, seem to be really stupid.'_

However, when he entered the Slytherin common room together with Harry and Draco in the afternoon, he was going to face a completely different problem.

"Is Severus nuts?" Pansy Parkinson blurted out, who was first in the line to get a glimpse at the board. "I'm not going to work together with a half-blood and a blood traitor. I'm supposed to be together with Draco and not with Potter and Weasley," she shouted, sounding very angry.

"It's all right, Pansy. We'll just change the group," Draco offered, having quickly made his way through the crowd of first-years. "Milli and you can come to Blaise's and my study group, and Greengrass and Davis can work with Potter and Weasley. Greengrass, Davis, is that all right with you?"

Ron glanced around, wondering who the girls were, when his eyes fell on two girls, who seemed to be friends.

"It's all right, Draco, we don't mind working together with Ron and Harry," one of the girls spoke up, and the other nodded. Together, they came over to him and Harry, and the same girl said, "Hi, I'm Daphne, and this is my friend Tracy. We'll study together if that's all right with you."

Ron nodded, unaware that Harry did the same.

"That's fine," they replied, simultaneously, before they exchanged a look and grinned.

"I just hope Severus will be all right with it," Draco commented and headed for the door. "I'll speak with him."

To Ron's relief, the professor did not mind, however, did what he was said to very rarely do, take five points from Pansy Parkinson and had a very stern word with his little snake about all students in Slytherin being equal.

HP

It was on Saturday morning, and the Slytherin first-years were having breakfast in the Great Hall, when their head of house strode behind the Slytherin table. "Weasley, the headmaster wishes to speak with you right after breakfast."

Ron stared at the professor in disbelief. "Excuse me, sir, what does he want, and where's the headmaster's office?"

Snape smirked. "Mr. Weasley, I'm not privy to Professor Dumbledore's wishes." Turning to a sixth year prefect, he said, "Jenny, please be so kind and show Ronald where the headmaster's office is."

"Of course Professor," the girl replied, before Snape strode back to the high table. "Shall we go?" the girl addressed him, and Ron nodded and quickly rose from his chair.

"I'll wait in the common room," Harry promised.

"Yeah, thanks," Ron replied and followed the sixth-year prefect out of the Great Hall.

She led him through a flight of stairs and corridors, until they reached the gargoyle that was guarding the headmaster's office. "Green jellybeans," she gave the password, causing Ron's eyes to widen at Dumbledore's choice of a password.

An instant later, he found himself on a moving staircase, which led him up towards the most interesting office that he had ever seen.

HP

"Mr. Weasley," the headmaster greeted him in a gentle, grandfatherly voice and offered him a lemon drop, which Ron accepted in surprise.

 _'_ _Strange that such an old wizard seems to like sweets enough to use them for his password and offer them to students,'_ he thought, curiously letting his eyes wander around the office.

"I've called you here, because I need to ask you for a big favour," Dumbledore continued, causing Ron to wonder what he as a mere first-year could do to help one of the most powerful wizards in the world.

"Ronald, this conversation and its contents must remain between you and me," the old wizard told him in a stern voice.

"All right sir," Ronald agreed, feeling confused.

"I've noticed that you and Harry Potter have been sitting together at meal times," the headmaster began to explain. "I wish to keep an eye on the boy, however, since this is difficult for me as the headmaster, I'd like to enlist your help. I wish you to become friends with Harry Potter. Since he's new to the magical world, he needs a good friend, and I'd also like you to come to my office from time to time and inform me about how he's doing."

Ron stared at the old wizard in disbelief, thinking, _'I'm not going to spy on my friend, old man.'_

"Excuse me sir," Ron replied in confusion, "don't the teachers inform you about the students' progress?"

"Sure," Dumbledore admitted, smiling. "However, I'm less concerned about his academic advancement than about his personal problems. You don't have to do this for free," the headmaster continued. "I'll pay you for your efforts. I trust that you have your own account at Gringotts yet."


	5. Chapter 5

**Mastermind**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

 **COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC.**

 _It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.  
_ _Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse_ _._ _Thanks a lot to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!_

* * *

"Professor Dumbledore," Ronald spoke up, trying to remain calm. "Harry and I've become friends ever since we met on the Hogsmeade Express, and I'm not going to spy on my friend. Why don't you call Harry here on a regular basis and ask him how he's doing?" he suggested, turning his head to the phoenix who began to trill an encouraging melody.

"Very well," Dumbledore replied in a much sterner voice, the twinkle gone from his eyes. "In that case, I'll have to obliviate you concerning our meeting."

Before the old wizard even reached for his wand, Ron wandlessly and silently brought his protection charms up, noticing in relief that nothing happened, when the headmaster cast "Obliviate."

Having studied what the after effects of a memory charm were, he looked at Dumbledore feigning a confused expression, before he excused himself and left the office, feverishly thinking what he should do, as he returned to the common room.

 _'_ _I'll speak with Croaker,_ ' he finally decided.

HP

"What did Dumbledore want?" Harry enquired, who was sitting in the common room studying together with Tracey and Daphne.

Ron shook his head, not even having to feign confusion, as he was just engrossed in a mental conversation with Croaker. "I don't know," he finally said, matter-of-factly. "He's totally strange."

"That he is," the girls agreed, unconditionally, while Harry cast him a surprised look.

"I thought he was so well respected in the magical world," he commented in a small voice.

"That he is," Daphne agreed.

"Because he's a meddling old coot," Ron added, feeling extremely angry at the old wizard.

"Who's a meddling old coot?" Draco enquired, as he passed behind their table. "Dumbleduck?"

"Yeah," Ron confirmed and made a sudden decision. "Let's gather all the first-years in Harry's and my room, and I'll tell you what he wanted," he suggested, thinking that it might be safer for everyone to know. _'Who knows who Dumbledore is going to ask instead.'_

HP

Five minutes later, Ron checked Harry's and his room for possible spying spells and vanished two before casting a silencing spell around the room.

"He asked me to friend Harry and spy on him, and even offered me payment," he admitted, casting Harry a hesitant look.

"What?" Harry blurted out in disbelief.

"Well, you're the boy who lived," Draco spoke up, smirking, "but still, it's unbelievable."

"When I refused, telling him that we were friends anyway and that I wasn't going to spy on my friend, he tried to obliviate me but somehow failed," Ron added, grinning.

"Well, we'll just have to be extremely careful around Dumbledore," Blaise said, pensively. "Should we tell Snape about it?"

"Better not," Draco replied, sighing. "Severus owes Dumbleduck, and we can't be sure that he'd keep it from him."

"Dumbledore has tried to manipulate Harry's life from the beginning," Ron said, angrily. "He placed him with abusive relatives who hate magic. Maybe it would be good if he had an adult at Hogwarts who'd look out for him."

"I'll go and speak with Uncle Sev in private," Draco replied in apparent determination. "He's my godfather, and maybe he's willing to swear a wizard's oath to not inform Dumbleduck about the conversation. I'll tell you how it went later on."

HP

To Draco's relief, Severus gave him the wizard's oath and patiently listened to his godson's ramblings. He remained pensive for a moment, before he finally said, "First of all, ten points to Ronald for declining the headmaster's offer, and five points to you for bringing the matter to my attention. Unfortunately," he continued, "I'm not able to do anything against the headmaster."

"I thought so," Draco mumbled, sighing. "Apparently Dumbleduck was the one who placed Potter with his abusive relatives. He didn't even know about magic until a few months ago."

"It's Professor Dumbledore, Draco," Severus said, slightly reprimanding. "The headmaster sent me to Harry's relatives' house to help him buy his school supplies a few weeks ago, but Harry apparently didn't even need my help. Someone had cast a spell or charm at the Dursleys to tell me that he went to see the Queen," he added, smirking.

"Oh, maybe that was on his birthday," Draco replied, thoughtfully. "All the pureblood first-years were invited to Buckingham Palace for his birthday."

"What?" Severus asked, incredulously. "Why would Harry know the Queen?"

"I think," Draco said, slowly, "that there's an Unspeakable in our year. The invitation was signed by 'Mini Unspeakable Mastermind'.

"That must be Weasley then," Severus quickly concluded. "That's why he was able to save himself from being obliviated. The headmaster's spells don't just fail you know."

Draco nodded in understanding. "Probably yes, although it's hard to believe that a Weasley would be an Unspeakable. That might explain why he was sorted into Slytherin then. Oh well."

"Draco, you know that you mustn't speak about this with anyone else," his godfather told him in a stern voice. "It could be life-threatening for him if people knew, and if anything happened because of you talking about the matter, you'd at least be expelled from Hogwarts if not worse."

"I won't," Draco promised, inwardly rolling his eyes at the warning.

"I'll still keep it in mind, and if there's anything that I can do, trust me I will," the professor promised. "Please keep me informed if there's anything else."

"We will," Draco replied, smirking. "Thanks Uncle Sev."

HP

After Draco had left his office, Severus remained in his seat, overthinking the most interesting conversation which he just had with his godson. _'Weasley of all first-years an Unspeakable,'_ he thought, incredulously, wondering if he should summon the boy and offer his help if he needed it. _'Considering that he and Harry are both snakes, maybe I should do that. I owe it to Lily to protect her son.'_ From the question of the Unspeakable, his mind wandered off to his first real friend. _'I can't understand why Albus was able to send the boy to Petunia anyway. Did Lily and James not make a will, even if knowing about the prophecy and that the Dark Lord was behind them?'_ he wondered. _'Maybe Weasley will be able to check that out,'_ he thought, returning to the topic at hand. _'I just hope that the boy won't obliviate me if the finds out that I know about him being an Unspeakable. Hopefully, he'll hear me out and accept my wizard's oath for secrecy,'_ he mused.

HP

Ron inwardly groaned in annoyance, when his head of house strode behind the Slytherin table and uttered, "Weasley, please come with me."

 _'_ _Oh Merlin, what is it now?'_ he wondered, while he followed Snape to the dungeons, almost having to run to keep up with the professor's fast pace.

"Are we not supposed to study with our study groups after dinner?" he enquired, once they reached the Potions Master's office.

"This rule is only valid during week days," the professor informed him, smirking.

"Oh all right," Ron replied, wondering why he had missed that part, as he lowered himself into the indicated seat in front of the professor's desk.

"Mr. Weasley," Snape began to speak in a soft, baritone voice. "Usually, the headmaster's spells don't fail. If he obliviates someone, no one gets out of his office to tell the tale." He quirked an eyebrow in silent question.

"I don't know what happened," Ron stammered, not wanting to tell the truth. "Maybe I did something with accidental magic."

The professor smirked. "Highly unlikely," he commented and asked, "If I swore you a wizard's oath to keep your secret to myself, would you be willing to tell me the truth?" He held up his hand to stop Ron from replying immediately, before he continued, "I'm merely asking, because I believe that you might need an adult's help for some occasions, and I'm willing to provide assistance if needed."

Ron's thoughts went haywire. _'He knows that I'm an Unspeakable,'_ he realised, _'but why?'_

"Excuse me sir, but who told you about it?" he asked in confusion.

"No one explicitly told me," Snape admitted, "but it came out in a conversation with my godson, who told me that a first-year Mini Unspeakable had invited all pureblood first-years for Harry's birthday party with the Queen. You're the only of the first-years who I deem capable of being a Mini Unspeakable." He raised his wand and gave his wizard's oath to not reveal the matter to anyone.

"I've been a Mini Unspeakable for about fifteen months," Ron finally admitted. He told the professor of everything that he deemed important from the fifteen months, still stunned that the professor had so easily found out about him. "Sometimes, I have to go to the Unspeakables office in the evenings, sir," he added. "Will I please be excused from the study group for these times?"

"Speak with your group and arrange that you make up for it during the weekends," the professor advised him. "You don't have to explain why you don't have time on certain evenings. Some students have Quidditch practice and are thus unable to have their study groups every evening."

"Thank you, sir," Ron replied, feeling very much consoled, as he had already spent a few hours worrying about the matter.

"Concerning your earlier meeting with Professor Dumbledore, I suggest that you consider speaking with Amelia Bones about the matter. The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Snape advised him, causing Ron to nod his head.

"I know her, and well, I've already informed Croaker. He'll probably tell me on Monday evening if he did something with the information and what. I'll keep you updated, sir."

"Thank you Mr. Weasley," the professor said and dismissed him.

"Thank you for offering your help," Ron replied and returned to the common room, feeling strangely reassured by his conversation with his head of house.

When he let the conversation pass review later the same evening, he was still oblivious to the fact that he was going to need the professor's help rather sooner than later.

HP

On Monday evening, Ron had just returned from his meeting with the Unspeakables, when Draco entered his and Harry's room.

"I need one of you as my second," he spoke up, giving the two boys a questioning look.

"Second?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yes, I'm going to have a wizard's duel against Finnegan from Gryffindor," Draco explained, "at midnight."

"Tonight?" Ron asked, incredulously.

"Yep," Draco confirmed.

"All right, I'll be your second," Ron agreed.

"Thanks Ron. Harry, you can still come and watch. In fact, most of the first-years will," Draco replied, smirking.

HP

At fifteen minutes to midnight, all Slytherin first-years left their common room, unaware of the wards that the Slytherin head had placed around their house to notify him if one or more of his snakes left the house during the night.

Draco led the group straight into the trophy room, where they arrived at exactly midnight. However, there was no sign of Seamus Finnegan.

"Draco, are you sure that it's not a trap?" Harry enquired, worriedly glancing around.

"We'll see," Draco replied, smugly.

About ten minutes later, Seamus Finnegan finally showed up, accompanied by Dean Thomas and the Weasley twins.

"Sorry for intruding…"

"… but we thought…"

"… that you'd need two responsible, impartial judges," the twins greeted them, causing the Slytherins to nod.

"Thanks Messrs. Weasley," Draco replied.

Shaking his head at the Gryffindors' insolence of arriving ten minutes late, Ron took his position as Draco's second, while Dean announced that he was going to be Seamus' second.

The duel began, and at first, Draco and his opponent exchanged a couple of easy spells, which Ron recognised as those which were listed in their first year Defence Against the Dark Arts book. However, when Seamus resolved to use more complicated spells, Draco began to cast dark spells.

"You idiot," Dean suddenly shouted, after Draco had hit Seamus with a cutting spell, and while Draco dodged a stunning spell cast by Seamus, sent the Expelliarmus spell at Draco.

"You're the idiot here, Thomas," Ron growled and decided to also interfere in the duel. He quickly cast a wandless and soundless stunning spell at Seamus that hit the boy squarely in the chest.

"End of the duel…"

"… Draco Malfoy wins," the twins spoke up, causing the Slytherins to cheer.

Ron quickly enervated Seamus, before the Slytherins retreated from the room, unaware of the disillusioned figure of their head of house who was lurking in a dark corner of the room. "Twenty points to Slytherin for the first-years' display of house unity," he mumbled in a barely audible voice, unheard by his students.

HP

Only a few weeks later, Ron and Harry heard from Hermione and Neville that Seamus and Dean had got lost on their way from the trophy room to the hospital wing and had ended up on the forbidden third-floor corridor, where they had to face a three-headed dog that seemed to be guarding a trap door.

 _'_ _The Philosopher's stone,'_ Ron realised and immediately informed Croaker of his suspicion as well as about the fact that Harry's scar began to hurt every time he was near Professor Quirrell.

"Don't worry, the Unspeakables will surely be able to help you," he promised his friend. "They have the means to research and find out things."

Unfortunately for Harry, the result of the Unspeakables' research, which came out a month later, was all but pleasant for him.

"We believe that Professor Quirrell must be possessed by Voldemort and that Harry's head must be housing one of Voldemort's Horcruxes," Croaker informed Ron during their usual meeting in the Unspeakables Office. "Since we've destroyed what we believe to be all other Horcruxes, this must be his last one, and thus we urgently need to take it out before something happens and Voldemort possesses Harry."

"Oh Merlin," Ron muttered in shock.

"You told me that Professor Snape knows that you're a Mini Unspeakable, is that correct?" Croaker enquired.

"Yes sir," Ron replied in surprise, wondering how the Potions Master would be able to help.

"I shall go and speak with him," Croaker decided. "Come with me."

Together, they popped right in front of the professor's office, and Croaker knocked at the door.

"Professor, please excuse the disturbance," Croaker apologized, when Snape allowed them inside, raising an eyebrow at their Unspeakable attire. "I'm Head Unspeakable Croaker and this is Mini Unspeakable Mastermind," he introduced themselves, before he explained what they had found out about Professor Quirrell and the Horcrux in Harry's head.

Snape remained thoughtful for a while, before he asked, "Do I understand it correctly that you know how to take out the Horcrux?"

"Yes sir," Croaker confirmed.

"Then I suggest that we meet here in my office on Saturday morning after breakfast," Snape suggested. "Since I'm not certain if the headmaster has Harry's best interests in mind, we should do this in secret. If we use my guest room, Harry can remain over the weekend if necessary."

"Thank you very much, Professor," Croaker replied. "One of my colleagues and I will come here at nine o'clock on Saturday morning." Turning to Ron, he added, "Mastermind, please bring Harry here at the same time and explain everything to him, but not beforehand. We don't want him to worry about it unnecessarily."

"Mastermind, come right after breakfast, then we can explain the matter together," Snape instructed him.

"Yes sir," Ron said in understanding. "Thank you for your help, Professor."

Snape merely inclined his head, and the two Unspeakables left the Potions Master's office, contented with the offered solution.

'If that's done, then it should be possible to kill Voldemort, and if it really has to be Harry to do it, then we'll just have to make a plan and teach him accordingly,' Croaker thought to his young colleague, once they had left the office.

'I won't be able to remain very long on Saturday morning, as the Queen will be waiting for me at ten o'clock,' Ron replied.

'Oh right, I almost forgot. Oh well, Harry should be in good hands with Professor Snape,' Croaker reassured him, before he took his leave.

HP

On Saturday morning, everything went well, and while Croaker and Snape talked to Harry about the plans for the near future, Ron went to see the Queen, who was also very interested to hear everything about Harry, Voldemort and their life at Hogwarts.

While the Unspeakables were still researching how to kill a possessing spirit, something happened that made all their research useless. During the Halloween feast, a troll attacked Professor Quirrell, who was taken to the hospital wing in a very bad shape.

HP

"I'm not sure if he'll make it through the night," a teary-eyed healer informed the headmaster, only to notice in the morning that the young wizard had surprisingly well recovered. His turban was gone, and he was not even stuttering anymore.

Not fully trusting the headmaster, Poppy decided to not tell him that her patient's magical signature had changed overnight. Instead, she informed the Potions Master, who was not only a good friend to her, but also the person whom she respected and trusted most.

"His magical signature has changed?" Severus asked in disbelief, before he explained that Quirrell had apparently be possessed by the Dark Lord. "That can only mean that the Dark Lord has taken over Quirrell's body," he added, pensively.

"It's the only reasonable explanation," Poppy agreed. "What are we going to do? Shall we inform Albus?"

"Please give me some time. I'll speak with the Unspeakables and ask for their advice," Severus replied, thoughtfully. "I'll inform you as soon as I know more. For the time being, please find a plausible sounding reason to exclude Harry Potter from his Defence Against the Dark Arts class."

Poppy let out a snort. "Find something that still allows him to fly but prevents him from attending Defence Against the Dark Arts?" she asked, frowning. "That's not easy."

"I know," Severus replied, sighing, and promised, "I'll think about the matter as well."

HP

During the first-years' Flying class, his Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint, had observed the new first-years and had decided to bring Harry Potter into the Quidditch team as their new Seeker, and Severus had efficiently managed to convince his colleagues to abolish the rule that first-years weren't allowed to be on the house teams.

Severus had observed his team's practice a couple of times and was convinced that Harry Potter was the best Seeker that Slytherin would ever be able to get in the foreseeable future. _'We have to think of something else. I don't want to pull him off the team,'_ he mused on his way back to the dungeons. He decided to seek out the Unspeakables' assistance.

"Cicero," he called his house elf, once arriving in his office. "Please call Messrs. Weasley and Potter here," he instructed the elf, pondering the situation while he was waiting. _'The Dark Lord at Hogwarts in person, not only as a spirit,'_ he thought, when a suspicion crossed his mind. He hurriedly rolled up his left sleeve, only to realise in shock that the Dark Mark was back on his arm with full power. _'It's as black as it was ever before Harry vanquished him,'_ he thought, letting out a deep sigh.

HP

After hearing the story from his head of house, Ron decided to summon Croaker right away, and the Potions Master quickly re-told everything for the Head Unspeakable, only to add, "His body might still weak from the ordeal, so maybe it would be good to proceed as soon as possible."

"Very well," Croaker decided and directly addressed Harry. "Harry, I suggest the following. You join me in the Unspeakables Office this afternoon, and I'll teach you a spell to kill Voldemort, which is not an unforgivable curse. Then we'll both go to the Great Hall together, which means, you're going to hold my arm, which is very important. As long as you don't let go, you'll be invisible, which will enable you to simply cast the spell at Voldemort."

Harry immediately agreed, and Snape offered his support if it was needed.

"Thank you Professor. We'll be back here and follow you into the Great Hall tonight," Croaker replied and took Harry's hand, popping themselves away.

"I'll go with them. Maybe I can help," Ronald said to the Potions Master. "Thanks for everything, sir."

HP

During the afternoon, Croaker practised the spell with Harry and Ron on a dummy which was always used for the Unspeakables' training. After two hours of practice, Harry managed to efficiently kill the dummy that was fortunately charmed to gain full health again after a minute.

"Croaker," Ron spoke up, pensively. "I know that Harry has to be the one to kill him, but would it perhaps help if I stunned him, so that Harry could more easily vanquish him?"

"It won't hurt," Croaker agreed, smirking.

HP

 _'Everything sounds too easy to be true,'_ Ron thought, when he followed Snape as well as Croaker and Harry, who were invisible like himself, into the Great Hall. He silently cast a wandless stunning spell at the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, sensing the magic coming off Harry, when he successively cast the spell that killed the evil wizard.

A moment later, Ron and Harry took their seats at the Slytherin table, while the teachers fawned about Professor Quirrell only to realise that he was dead. He absentmindedly observed how Snape unobtrusively rolled up his left sleeve only to stare at his arm in clear horror.

'I think he's not gone yet,' Ron thought to Croaker. 'He must have had at least one Horcrux left.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Mastermind**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

 **COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC.**

 _It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.  
_ _Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse_ _._ _Thanks a lot to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!_

* * *

'There was no Horcrux left,' Croaker replied, as he entered the Great Hall to take the body with him, only to realise that it had somehow vanished into thin air. 'I'm sure of that. The only way for him to still be around would be if he's made a new Horcrux during the last two weeks.'

'That's it then,' Ron thought back.

'Maybe when he killed Quirrell,' Croaker said, pensively. 'I wonder if we can find the Horcrux, but he probably took it immediately when he was killed. That's why his body vanished just like when Harry vanquished him as a baby.'

HP

Later the same evening, Snape informed Ron what he had heard from Pomfrey. Shortly after dinner, the pillow from the bed, in which Quirrell had rested after his encounter with the troll, had all of a sudden exploded, leaving the floor next to her office with feathers everywhere.

"He must have used the pillow to create another Horcrux, when he killed Quirrell and took over his body," he informed the Mini Unspeakable. "I don't think that it was his intention to do so though. It probably was an accident."

"One which unfortunately gave him another life," Ron said, sighing. "Thanks for the information Professor. I'll let Croaker know."

HP

Apart from Ron, Harry, Pomfrey, Snape and the Unspeakables, no one knew what had really happened to Quirinus Quirrell. Everyone else assumed that he had succumbed to his injuries sustained by the troll's attack.

"Sorry Harry, you killed Voldemort but won't even get any award for it," Ron said to his friend one evening.

"Thank Merlin," Harry blurted out. "I'm glad that no one knows what I did. I feel bad enough that I killed someone, and knowing that I'll have to do it again some time doesn't really help."

Ron let out a long sigh. "Oh Merlin, that's true. The problem is that we don't even know where he is."

"He's just a spirit now or what?" Harry asked, worriedly.

Ron shrugged. "I think so, at least until he manages to somehow get a body again, be it by possessing someone or else. I don't know."

Unfortunately, during the following months, nothing was heard of Voldemort, and, while everyone was grateful for the peace and quiet, a certain amount of fear remained.

HP

A few weeks before the end of the school year, Ron accompanied Harry to the headmaster's office to enquire if it was all right for Harry to spend the summer holidays together with him.

"No my boy," Dumbledore said in his grandfatherly voice, "you must return home."

"Hogwarts is my home," Harry replied, firmly.

"There are blood wards around your aunt's home that will keep you safe," Dumbledore insisted.

"Safe from whom?" Ron spoke up. "Surely not from his relatives, as they starve and abuse him."

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I don't think that Voldemort is completely gone, and the blood wards will make sure that he can't get to you. The last three weeks, you may stay with the Weasleys," Dumbledore said, dismissively.

"I wonder why he sends me back there," Harry said to Ron once they left the headmaster's office.

"Me too. He doesn't care, otherwise he'd have said something to my comment about starvation and abuse," Ron agreed, feeling very angry at the old wizard.

"Yes," Harry said, sighing, before he decided, "Oh well, I'll think of something, but I won't go back there."

"I'll help you," Ron promised, resolving to speak with Croaker and with the Queen about the matter. "Please give me some time to make a plan," he merely said, not wanting Harry to get his hopes up.

HP

A few days later, he first spoke with the Queen, who immediately decided that she – rather than sending her guards with the boy like during the previous summer – wanted to take the child in.

"I wish to become Harry's guardian in the mundane and the magical world," she informed Ron, causing a huge smile to spread over his face.

"Thank you so much," he replied, happily.

Smiling, the Queen instructed him to confer with the Unspeakables and prepare all the documents, so that she'd merely have to sign them for the guardianship to be transferred.

"I'll do that right away," Ron promised and popped to the Unspeakables Office.

HP

By the time he returned to Hogwarts on time for dinner, the Queen was Harry's guardian in the magical and the muggle world, the proper parchments were filed within the Ministry of Magic, however, secret and inaccessible to everyone for the time being, Ron had the instruction to pop Harry straight to Buckingham Palace upon their arrival at King's Cross, and the Unspeakables had cast a charm at the Dursleys, so that they would tell everyone asking about Harry that he had gone to visit the Queen.

"Ron, you're the best," Harry said, happily, once Ron had told him about it, as soon as they were back in their own room. "Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me, thank the Queen," Ron replied, grinning. "She was the one to quickly decide that she wanted to become your guardian. The best of all is that Dumbledore is completely in the dark."

"Yes, that's great," Harry agreed, chuckling.

"If you want, I can take you with me next Saturday morning, when I go to see her again, so you can thank her yourself," Ron suggested, looking at Harry in expectation.

"Next Saturday is the last Quidditch match of the year, Ron," Harry replied, sighing. "I can't miss that. If we win, the Quidditch cup is ours."

"Oh right," Ron replied, thoughtfully. "But that's only at eleven, and I agreed with her to visit her at nine o'clock next Saturday. So we could go before the match and be back on time."

HP

On Saturday, the Queen informed Harry that he would have his own room in the palace, was expected to attend three meals each day together with her family and was otherwise free to do as he pleased during the summer holidays.

"I'll ask the Unspeakables if they can train Harry during the summer like last year," Ron promised, causing Harry to nod, eagerly.

The two boys spoke with the Queen for about an hour, before Ron told her that they had to return to Hogwarts, because Harry had to play Seeker in the Quidditch match.

To their surprise, a smile crept on the Queen's face, before she said, "I still have my Unspeakable robes. Will you please take me with you, Ronald? I'd love to watch the match, and I only have my next appointment at four o'clock this afternoon."

Ron agreed – of course, ' _You can only agree if the Queen wants something_ ,' he thought, when he popped Harry back into their room. He immediately returned to the Palace to fetch the Queen, who in the meantime had informed her son about her absence and donned her Unspeakable robes. Ron did the same, before he popped back to Hogwarts together with his guest. Knowing that the Gryffindor stands would most likely be empty apart from maybe the first few rows, as Slytherin had to play Ravenclaw, he led the Queen up to the last row, before he telepathically contacted Hermione, Neville and his head of house asking if they'd like to watch the match together with the Queen from the last row of the Gryffindor stands.

To his surprise, not only Hermione, who absolutely detested Quidditch, but also Neville and even Snape approached them.

"Do you think it's a good idea having the head of Slytherin watch the match from the Gryffindor stands?" Snape addressed him, smirking.

"Yes sir, why not if it's in such wonderful company," Ron replied and ushered the professor into the seat next to the Queen. He was sitting on her other side and informed her in a quiet voice about the rules of Quidditch.

Half-way through the match, he swapped seats with Hermione, who could not wait to ask the Queen a whole litany of questions, which the Queen patiently answered while following the match with apparent interest.

"That was the most interesting Quidditch match I've ever witnessed," Snape said to the Queen once Harry had caught the Snitch ending the match. "Thank you very much, your Majesty."

The Queen chuckled. "I thank you for the company, Professor and congratulations for winning the match. Since I'm now Harry's guardian in the mundane and the magical world, I just had to come and watch him play Quidditch."

"Harry's guardian?" Snape asked in disbelief.

"Professor," Ron spoke up, quickly. "Please keep this information for you. No one except for the Unspeakables is supposed to know about it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry my boy," the Queen apologized.

"Don't be," Snape was the first to reply. "Thank you so much for taking the boy from his atrocious relatives, and I assure you that I'm going to keep Harry's secret."

"As will we," Hermione threw in, smiling.

With that the Slytherin head strode to the Quidditch pitch to be present, when Marcus Flint accepted the Quidditch cup from the headmaster, and Ron quickly popped the Queen back to her home.

"This was much fun. Thank you Ronald for making my often boring life so enjoyable," he heard the Queen say, just when he readied himself to pop away.

HP

Ron thoroughly enjoyed his summer holidays. Every morning, the Unspeakables trained him and Sphinx, and sometimes, Harry was allowed to join them, depending on the topic of their training. He was also allowed to spend the afternoon with them in the library, and the three friends had much fun.

Too soon for his liking, they had to board the Hogwarts Express and return to Hogwarts. Their second year began completely uneventfully – apart from some interesting hours of Defence Against the Dark Arts with a professor who was an absolute fraud.

One day, Ron spoke with Croaker about Gilderoy Lockhart. "He's written so many books about his wonderful achievements but isn't even able to fight a Boggart," he informed the Head Unspeakable, causing the Unspeakables to unobtrusively check on the professor.

One day, the headmaster announced that Mr. Brian Hamilton, a new reporter from the Daily Prophet, was going to come to Hogwarts to give Professor Lockhart an exclusive interview, and gracious as the professor was, he had allowed for the interview to take place in the Great Hall on Sunday afternoon, so that whoever wanted to listen in was able to do so.

Only when Croaker told Ron, "I'll see you on Sunday afternoon," did the boy realise that the so-called interview had been set up by none other than the Unspeakables.

"Let's attend that interview. I'm sure that we're going to have fun," he told Harry, Daphne and Tracy, when they worked together on their assignments on Sunday morning, causing the girls to cast him looks of absolute disbelief. "Well, just listen to me," he said, grinning, knowing that Harry would understand what he was implying without explanation.

HP

About half of the student body and all teachers were present, when Mr. Hamilton entered the Great Hall. Seeing that Lockhart was waiting in front of the staff table, he made his way to the front of the hall. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Hamilton waved his hand in a strange movement before finally gripping Lockhart's outstretched hand and greeting the professor.

No one but the two Mini Unspeakables present in the Great Hall had recognised the strange greeting as what it was: A spell that was solely known and used by Unspeakables.

"Why exactly have you decided to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, although the position is said to be cursed?" Hamilton enquired.

"To enlarge my fame and maybe profit a bit from Harry Potter's," Lockhart replied, his expression changing from his usual – as he seemed to believe – charming smile to one of utter shock, as he blurted out the response.

"Can you tell us which of your adventures that are described in your books was the most impressive for you?" Hamilton wanted to know.

"Obliviating all the wizards and witches who did the adventures giving me wonderful ideas for my books," Lockhart responded, causing everyone present in the Great Hall to let out a collective gasp.

"Do I understand you correctly," Hamilton continued over the noise that was now filling the Great Hall after Lockhart's revelation, "that all the fights described in your books have been fought by other people, and you obliviated them all in order to collect the rewards yourself?"

"Yes" came the automatic reply.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hamilton," Dumbledore spoke up, wearing a shocked expression, "have you given Professor Lockhart Veritaserum?"

"Headmaster," Hamilton said, calmly, "please excuse my little masquerade. I'm an Unspeakable, and since our Mini Unspeakables reported from Hogwarts that their new professor seemed to be a fraud, I just had to verify this. Before the interview, I've cast a spell at him provoking the same reaction as three drops of Veritaserum. I'm sorry, but I'm forced to arrest your staff member because of his obliviation activities. I will take him with me to a ministry holding cell."

"Of course," Dumbledore replied, nodding in understanding. "Excuse me, Mr. Hamilton, but who exactly are your Mini Unspeakables at Hogwarts?"

"Mastermind and Sphinx," Hamilton replied, before he held Lockhart in a firm grip and simply popped away.

Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff fifth-year, stood from his seat. "Mastermind and Sphinx, whoever you are, thank you very much for getting rid of that fraud for us."

Huge applause followed his statement, causing Ron to inwardly grin. _'If I only knew who Sphinx was,'_ he thought, feeling extremely annoyed at her secrecy. During the summer holidays, he and Harry had asked her, however, the female Mini Unspeakable merely told them to find out by themselves. _'Bitch,'_ Ron thought, as he trailed out of the Great Hall behind everyone else.

HP

To everyone's relief, the Unspeakables spoke with Amelia Bones, who agreed to lend Hogwarts an Auror as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher until the end of the school year.

As soon as on Monday evening, a new professor was sitting at the high table, and the headmaster introduced him as Auror Shacklebolt. The Auror turned out to be a brilliant teacher, and the second-years had the impression as if they learned a lot in his classes.

"Too bad that it's only until the summer," Ron said to Harry and the girls of their study group.

"Well, maybe Madam Bones will send another Auror next year," Tracey replied, giving her best friend a questioning look.

"Let's hope so," Daphne agreed, smiling.

HP

Two weeks before the beginning of the Christmas holidays, Snape called Ron and Harry into his office, offering them seats in front of his desk.

"Mr. Potter, I'd like to suggest something to you," he began to speak, seemingly thoughtful. "These are just my thoughts, and I don't know if they're correct. I just hope that the information might help you find out some more."

"All right sir," Harry replied, questioningly.

"Before you were born, your parents went into hiding," Snape began to explain. "They knew how dangerous their situation was and that the Dark Lord was after them for some reason. Thus, I can't believe that they did not leave a will." Seeing that both boys were listening intensely, he continued, "I've known your aunt from a time when we were children. Ever since I told your mother that she was a witch at the age of six, Petunia was jealous and developed a deep hatred for the magical world. Out of jealousy if you ask me. Consequently, I don't think that your parents wanted you to grow up with Petunia and her family."

"That makes sense," Ron spoke up, causing Harry to nod in agreement.

"Right after that fateful Halloween, Professor Dumbledore became your guardian and took you to your aunt's home. I've been thinking about this before, but only now, knowing that he isn't your guardian anymore, it makes sense to tell you about it. I suggest that you use the Christmas holidays to go to Gringotts and speak with the account manager of the Potter vaults. Ask him about a possible will and also about your heritage. I suppose that Professor Dumbledore did not tell you anything yet." He quirked an eyebrow at the boy.

"No sir, nothing," Harry confirmed.

"Very well," Snape continued, "I know for a fact that your father was the heir of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, but well, go to Gringotts and get the information. I'm only aware of what I heard from your mother."

 _'_ _Wicked,'_ Ron thought, glancing from the professor to his friend.

"Professor," Harry spoke up, seeming determined. "Thank you very much for this invaluable information. I'll indeed use the holidays to find out some more."

Snape let a hand wander through his silky hair before replying, "As you know, I'm not able to stand up against the headmaster, but if there's anything that I can do without him realising my involvement, just let me know."

"We will, Professor," Harry replied, gratefully. "Thank you very much sir."

HP

Ron and Harry decided to head to Diagon Alley in the morning after their arrival at home. It was Christmas Eve, and they both needed to buy Christmas presents, Ron for his family, Harry for the Queen and several other people at Buckingham Palace, and both of them had to find gifts for each other as well as Hermione, Neville and the girls of their study group.

 _'_ _I'll also get something for Croaker and Sphinx,'_ Ron decided, when they arrived in a side street behind Gringotts.

"Let's go to Gringotts first. Maybe your account manager doesn't have time right away and you'll need to make an appointment," Ron suggested, and Harry – as usual – readily agreed.

"It's Buckbean, right? He was the account manager, wasn't he?" Harry recalled from their first visit to Gringotts during the summer before entering Hogwarts.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Ron agreed.

"Excuse me sir, my name's Harry Potter, and I'd like to speak to Buckbean," Harry hesitantly addressed one of the goblins who eyed him with an intimidating look.

Fortunately, Buckbean had time right away and led the children into his office. "Thank Merlin," he uttered upon hearing about the change of guardian.

"Albus Dumbledore was very wrong to make himself your guardian," he told Harry, seemingly upset. "He locked your parents' will and completely ignored it for whatever reasons he might have had."

Ten minutes later, Ron and Harry understood the goblin's anger towards the headmaster. In the Potters' will, it was explicitly explained that Harry was not to be taken to Petunia Dursley, but that either Sirius Black or Alice Longbottom were to become his guardian. In the case that they were both unavailable, the guardianship should pass to either Amelia Bones or Severus Snape.

"There's more to the story," Buckbean told the upset boys. "Dumbledore has transferred monthly stipends to five different accounts," he informed them, showing them a parchment with five names along with the reason for the transfer:

 _'_ _Petunia Dursley for fostering Harry,  
Molly Weasley for having her children befriend Harry and taking care of Harry during summer,  
Albus Dumbledore for being Harry's guardian,_

 _Gellert Grindelwald for helping Harry fight Voldemort,  
The Order of the Phoenix for supporting Harry'_

"Mum," Ron blurted out in shock.

Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Buckbean, can you please at once stop these transfers? I only wish the monthly stipend to Remus Lupin as stated in my parents will to be taken from my account."

Buckbean smirked. "Mr. Potter, I won't only stop the transfers from now on, but I'm going to revoke every single Knut that has been taken from your account," he promised.

"Thank you sir," Harry replied, gratefully.

"One more thing which Albus Dumbledore set up," Buckbean continued, "is a marriage contract between you and Ginny Weasley." He gave Harry a questioning look.

"Please cancel this if it's possible," Harry replied, immediately, looking at Ron, apologetically. "I'm sorry Ron, but I barely even know her due to being in a different year and house."

"Harry, don't be sorry," Ron spoke up. "I don't know what Mum was thinking agreeing such things with Dumbledore over your head."

Harry merely shook his head.

"It's cancelled now," Buckbean confirmed.

 _'_ _How embarrassing,'_ Ron thought, feeling horrified at discovering that his mother had not only taken money from Dumbledore respectively Harry for having him befriending Harry, but even had made a marriage contract for Ginny with his best friend.

"Harry, I'm so sorry for what my mother did. Please believe me that I didn't know anything about it," he spoke up like in a trance.

"Ron, don't worry, I know that," Harry replied in a soothing voice, smiling at him.

"Thank Merlin," Ron blurted out, sighing in relief. "Thanks Harry."

"The reason for Dumbledore's action," Buckbean spoke again, "is that you as the Lord Potter, once you take your lordship, will be one of the most influential persons in the Wizengamot." Seeing that Harry gave him a questioning look, he explained, "You're not only the heir of the Potter family. Since Mr. Black has made you his heir, you're also the heir of the Black family. Add to this the Peverell family as well as the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw families from your father's side, the Hufflepuff family from your mother's side and the Slytherin and Gaunt families through conquest. Your victory over Tom Riddle AKA Lord Voldemort," he explained, noticing Harry's surprised look.

"That makes eight of the most ancient and wealthy families and eight seats on the Wizengamot," Buckbean stated, causing Ron to stare at his friend in amazement.

"Being the heir of all four founders of Hogwarts, doesn't that make him the owner of Hogwarts?" he enquired, making Buckbean nod in apparent amusement.

"So you see, Dumbledore probably wanted a piece off the cake," the goblin continued, "even if he chose the wrong path. "However," he continued, "there's still more to it than it seems. Have you ever heard of the Deathly Hallows?"

"No." Harry shook his head.

"Yes," Ron admitted, before he asked, reluctantly, "But they're only a myth, aren't they?"

"No," Buckbean informed him. "It goes back to three Peverell brothers, who owned the three objects known as the Deathly Hallows, the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. Some people say that if the Elder Wand is taken by conquer, it then belongs to the victor, however, that's not true. As Mr. Potter is the heir of the Peverell family, all three items belong to you, Mr. Potter. Unfortunately, Dumbledore is in the possession of two of them, while at the current time, we're not aware of the whereabouts of the Resurrection Stone."

"Is there a way to get the items back respectively search for the stone?" Harry enquired.

"As to getting back the items from Dumbledore, we'll see to it if you so wish," Buckbean replied in a firm voice. "Considering the Resurrection stone, I'll have the goblins look into the matter."

"I can also ask the Unspeakables. Maybe they have a method to find it," Ron added, smiling at Harry, who returned a grateful nod, the question why he would need the three objects so badly written on his face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Mastermind**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

 **COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC.**

 _It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.  
_ _Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse_ _._ _Thanks a lot to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!_

* * *

Only when Ron returned home late in the afternoon, knowing that he still had a few minutes before dinner, he found the time and – surprisingly – the quiet to telepathically chat with Croaker.

'Grindelwald?' Croaker asked in disbelief. 'He's supposed to be in his own prison. I don't even know if he's still alive.' However, the Head Unspeakable promised to look into the matter.

'As to the Resurrection stone, I know where it is,' he admitted, causing Ron to gasp in surprise, which only intensified, when the older wizard admitted, 'I found it together with one of the Horcruxes, and I'm keeping it safe for Harry. As soon as Harry will be ready and has a safe place to keep it, I'll give it to him.'

'Thank you Croaker and Happy Christmas,' Ron replied, knowing that he could fully trust Croaker to have Harry's best interests in mind. _'In contrary to my own mother,'_ he thought in absolute annoyance.

'Happy Christmas to you too, Mastermind,' Croaker replied, efficiently managing to lighten Ron's mood enough to head downstairs for Christmas Eve dinner.

HP

Over the holidays, Ron completely forgot the matters which they had been told at Gringotts. Only a month later, when Harry showed him a letter from Gringotts stating that Albus Dumbledore refused to return the Elder Wand, did he remember that there was some unfinished business between Harry and the headmaster. Buckbean suggested to give the headmaster the ultimatum of July 31, before the goblins would forcefully retrieve the wand.

"Well, it's not as if I badly needed it, is it?" Harry said, questioningly.

"If you have all three items, you're the Master of Death, whatever that is," Ron replied, pensively. "I don't know exactly what it means though," he added. "Croaker is keeping the Resurrection Stone for you in any case."

"Please tell him thank you very much, and if you have a chance, can you ask him what it means?" Harry asked, hesitantly.

"I will," Ron promised, before he became pensive. "I wonder," he said, slowly, if you should contact Madam Bones about everything that Dumbledore has done to you."

"Who's Madam Bones?" Harry enquired.

"The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Ron explained, patiently. "She could get Dumbledore a trial for everything that he did with you and your accounts at Gringotts. She's the one who was mentioned in your parents' will together with Snape."

"Oh okay," Harry said in understanding. "Let's wait how everything turns out for the time being. I'm not really keen on beginning a fight with the headmaster."

Ron nodded in understanding, resolving to eventually speak with Croaker about the matter.

HP

The remaining months of their second Hogwarts year passed uneventfully. If Dumbledore had noticed that the payments from Harry's account had stopped, he did not speak with Harry about the matter. Voldemort remained equally quiet, and even the Unspeakables had no idea where the evil wizard might be hiding and if he had managed to get back a corporate body in the meantime.

HP

"Next year, we'll be allowed to participate in the Hogsmeade visits," Tracey said, when they were studying together for their last end of year test. "I can't wait."

Seeing that Harry cast her a questioning look, she explained everything that she knew about Hogsmeade.

"We need the permission from our parents or guardians though," Ron added. "If we explain about it to the Queen, she'll surely allow you to go."

"Is the Queen really your guardian now?" Tracey asked in surprise, causing Ron to realise his slip.

"Yes, but no one at Hogwarts is supposed to know about it," Harry replied in a small voice, "because it's against the headmaster's order."

"Oh don't worry, we won't tell anyone," Daphne reassured him. "Now let's get back to our charm."

HP

To Harry's relief, the Queen immediately signed his permission slip after Ron had explained the matter to her.

He spent the summer holidays at Buckingham Palace like the previous summer, alternately having Defence tutoring with the Unspeakables and meeting with Ron, Draco, Hermione and Neville. From time to time, Ron and Harry even spent the afternoon with Tracey and Daphne.

On Harry's birthday, he was allowed to invite all of his classmates, and to his surprise, everyone showed up for the party.

However, at the same time, he heard some very disturbing news. Sirius Black, the betrayer of his parents, had escaped from Azkaban.

"Some people say he'd want to get back at you for vanquishing the Dark Lord that night. You better be very careful," Draco informed him, causing Harry to give his friend an uneasy look.

"He's right, you know. You shouldn't go anywhere without having one of the Unspeakables with you," Ron told him later on, when he was the last to leave.

"All right Ron, I won't," Harry promised, sighing.

Later the same evening, he received a letter from Buckbean instructing him to come to Gringotts first thing in the morning. Recalling what Ron had told him, he floo-called his friend, who promised that either he or any of the other Unspeakables would come to collect him at nine o'clock.

HP

Ron made his way to the Unspeakables Office a few minutes before the beginning of the morning meeting at eight o'clock.

He discussed the matter of a possible escort for Harry with Croaker, and the Head Unspeakable immediately agreed that Harry should not go anywhere without an escort.

"Today, I'll accompany him to Gringotts myself," he informed his Mini Unspeakable. "The meeting is about the Elder Wand, which the goblins forcefully took from Dumbledore yesterday."

"Is Dumbledore all right?" Ron enquired. Not that he was worried about the headmaster. It was rather that he wondered by which means the goblins had taken back the wand.

"Oh, let's say he should be well by the beginning of the school year," Croaker replied in apparent amusement. "Buckbean was so kind and informed me about their little fight. You may come along if you wish."

"I'd like to go," Ron eagerly accepted the invitation.

HP

Harry registered in surprise that Croaker and Ron both came to accompany him to Gringotts, and his astonishment even increased, when he did not only receive the Elder Wand from Buckbean but also the Resurrection Stone from Croaker.

"Put it into a safe place in your own room at Buckingham Palace," Croaker instructed him. "While you should carry the Elder Wand with you, preferably hidden in a second wand holster, you should leave the stone at your home at any time. Don't take it to Hogwarts with you."

"Excuse me, sir, but what does it mean to have all three Hallows?" Harry enquired, eyeing the Unspeakable with curiosity.

"It means that you're the Master of Death," Croaker explained. "Since there hasn't been one for a few centuries, I'm not exactly certain about the merits or consequences though. Immortality could be one effect, but that's only an assumption, not any certified knowledge. I'm certain that you'll find out over time though, and it might help you in your future fight against Voldemort."

"You haven't heard from him, have you?" Harry queried, nervously running a hand through his unruly hair.

"No," Croaker replied, shaking his head, before he turned to Buckbean. "Have the goblins any news concerning Voldemort?"

"No sir," Buckbean replied and informed Harry that three goblins had gone to see Dumbledore the previous afternoon. Since the headmaster refused to return the Elder Wand, one of them had cast a goblin spell at the old wizard that made his muscles freeze, causing him to drop the wand, so that it could be retrieved. "Unfortunately for Dumbledore, the humans don't know the spell let alone the counter spell, so that it'll have to wear off by itself, which will take less than a month," he added, smirking

 _'_ _Oh well, it's his own fault,'_ Harry thought, feeling very grateful towards the goblins and the Unspeakables for their invaluable support.

"For all the crimes committed towards you, Dumbledore is now locked out of Gringotts for a year. His account has been frozen for the time being," Buckbean continued, making Harry and Ron gasp.

Harry profusely thanked Buckbean and Croaker and gratefully accepted that Ron popped him home.

HP

At the Welcoming Feast, Dumbledore was obviously completely back to normal, even if he seemed a little tired and pale. _'Well, it's his own fault for messing with Harry and stealing from him,'_ Ron thought, as he observed the Sorting of the new first-years. _'For us it's better that he was incapacitated anyway,'_ he thought, knowing from Croaker that the headmaster had wanted to place Dementors around the school to possibly capture Sirius Black. Making use of the situation that the headmaster was not able to arrange any such thing, Croaker had seen to it that two Aurors were placed at the school for the time being. _'Thank Merlin, that's much safer for us than Dementors anyway,'_ he thought, wondering if the headmaster was slowly getting too old for his position.

He was brought out of his musings, when the meal popped up on the tables, much to his pleasure.

HP

During the house meeting in Slytherin, Snape held his usual monologue, before he motioned the first-years to introduce themselves. After he wished everyone a good night, he stepped over to where Ron and Harry were sitting together with Draco and Blaise and addressed Harry.

"Harry, Professor Dumbledore instructed me to tell you that you're not allowed to participate in the Hogsmeade visits."

"What?" Harry blurted out, seemingly shocked and angry at the same time.

Snape let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry Harry, but the headmaster believes that it would be too dangerous for you with Mr. Black on the loose."

"What if one of the Aurors accompanied him?" Ron suggested, giving their head of house a pleading look.

"Or one of the Unspeakables," Snape replied, pensively, causing Ron to eagerly nod. 'Please ask the Unspeakables,' Ron heard the professor speak into his mind.

"All right sir," he replied, aloud.

"Very well, we'll speak about the matter again in a week then," Snape relented and sent the boys to bed.

HP

Croaker promised to send one of the Unspeakables to invisibly follow Harry through Hogsmeade, and Snape was able to convince the headmaster that it would be safe enough for the boy to participate in the Hogsmeade visit.

"Ron," Harry addressed his best friend, when they left the professor's office. "Are we going to go together with Tracey and Daphne, or should we ask Hermione and Neville? Perhaps we could go all together?"

Ron sighed before casting Harry an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Harry, but I have a date for the first Hogsmeade visit. Sphinx and I decided to go to Hogsmeade together," he admitted, hesitantly.

"Sphinx?" Harry asked in apparent surprise. "Have you finally found out who she is?"

Ron blushed profusely. "No, I haven't," he replied, feeling thoroughly annoyed. "Whoever she is though, she's my best friend apart from you," he continued, smiling.

Harry could not prevent himself from chuckling. "Oh well, maybe you'll manage to find out on Saturday then. Considering that you've been working together as Mini Unspeakables for more than three years now, it's really funny."

"Yeah, I can't wait to find out who she is," Ron agreed, eagerly, hoping in vain that no one else would be present if he found out who the girl was.

HP

"Let's meet at the Three Broomsticks at lunchtime," Daphne suggested during their study group on Friday evening, giving Ron and Harry a questioning look.

"I'm sorry," Ron replied, hesitantly, "but I've a date for tomorrow, and I don't know…"

"That your date is with me?" Daphne enquired in apparent amusement.

"What?" Ron blurted out, staring at his friend in shock. 'You're Sphinx?' he asked, telepathically.

"You only realised that now?" Daphne asked in clear disbelief. "I figured it out during the Sorting. Oh wow, boys are really daft, even if they're supposed to be a mastermind."

"Sorry," Ron replied, uncomfortably, not able to keep himself from blushing. "Will you still go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"Of course," Daphne replied, smiling.

"What?" Harry spoke up, questioningly.

"Boys," Daphne groaned in apparent annoyance.

"Well Harry, shall we go to Hogsmeade together then?" Tracey suggested, and Harry nodded in apparent relief. "If you want, we can invite Hermione and Neville to go together," she offered.

"I'd like that," he replied, smiling.

HP

Ron was barely able to fall asleep that night. The thought _'Sphinx is Daphne'_ kept him awake for hours. He had known Sphinx for more than three years now and Daphne for two years, however, he'd never have imagined that they were one and the same person. _'I wonder if that's really true,'_ he thought in spite of knowing that it had to be. Daphne was not one to joke about such an important thing. _'Oh well, it doesn't really matter,'_ he thought. _'I like Daphne, too._ '

To his relief, his date with Daphne went well, and he realised that the girl was indeed the same person as Sphinx. They spent the whole day exploring the village and only went to meet their friends at The Three Broomsticks at lunch time.

"Thank you Ron. That was much fun," Daphne told him, when they were on their way back to the castle on time for dinner.

"Yes, it was," Ron agreed, grinning. "If you don't mind, we can always repeat this the next time," he added, hesitantly.

"I'd love that," Daphne replied, as she followed him inside the castle.

HP

While not only Ron but also Harry had completely forgotten about the matter with Sirius Black, someone tried to break into Gryffindor tower on Halloween, and everyone in the castle feared that it was indeed Sirius Black.

"Why would he try to get into Gryffindor if he wanted to get to me though?" Harry asked one evening, when he was together with Ron, Daphne and Tracey.

"Maybe he doesn't know that you're in Slytherin," Tracey guessed. "The Potters are generally known as Gryffindors."

"Harry, since you're the owner of Hogwarts, maybe you'll be able to somehow speak with the castle," Ron said, pensively.

"Yes, maybe if you touch the wall at an empty spot, you could talk to her," Daphne immediately agreed.

Giving his friends a look of absolute disbelief, Harry stepped towards an empty spot on the wall and placed his hand against it.

"Hogwarts, can you hear me?" he whispered, only to flinch back in surprise, when a soft voice penetrated his mind.

'Of course I can hear you,' Hogwarts replied. 'I was wondering when you'd try to speak with me.'

"I'm sorry Hogwarts, I didn't know that it was possible," Harry whispered. "May I ask you a question, oh no, two questions in fact," he quickly corrected himself.

'Of course dear,' the castle responded.

"Do you know if Sirius Black was here last night?" Harry enquired.

'Yes, I could sense him within my walls,' Hogwarts confirmed.

"Can you please alert me if he comes again?"

'I can do that,' Hogwarts promised.

"There's a curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, is that correct?" Harry asked his second question.

'Yes dear, Tom Riddle cursed the position,' Hogwarts told him. 'Do you want me to try and break it?'

"Oh that would be great if you could do that," Harry said in excitement.

'I'm not sure if I can,' Hogwarts said, slowly. 'Please try to push as much magic as you can into my wall to assist me.'

Harry did as he was asked, and it took a little while, before Hogwarts informed him that the curse on the position had been lifted.

"Thank you so very much," Harry replied, feeling very happy at the news.

'You're welcome my boy, and please contact me again soon, so that I can tell you where the founders' quarters are. Just now, I'm too tired though,' Hogwarts told him.

HP

"The curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position is gone," he informed his friends, who shared his sentiment.

"Thank Merlin," Tracey was the first to speak up. "Professor Lupin is the best teacher we've ever had."

"Should we inform the headmaster?" Daphne suggested, causing the others to refuse vehemently.

"No, leave it," Ron replied. "He doesn't have to know that Harry's able to converse with Hogwarts."

HP

It was a few weeks later that Hogwarts suddenly thought into Harry's mind, although he was just studying together with his study group, not having his hand against the wall.

'Harry, I have captured Sirius Black in an empty classroom,' she informed him. 'Please go there now. I'll show you the way.'

"Hogwarts has captured Sirius Black," Harry quickly informed his friends. "Will you go with me?"

Everyone agreed, and the four third-year Slytherins quickly left the common room, noticing in surprise that small arrows appeared on the wall of the dungeon corridor.

HP

Ron quickly contacted Croaker, as he followed his friends half-way up to Gryffindor, before they came to stand in front of an unused classroom.

"Hi Croaker," he said, gratefully, when the Unspeakable popped up right next to the small group.

"What's up?" Croaker enquired, causing Ron and Daphne to quickly inform their boss. "All right, let's go in then," Croaker decided and tried in vain to open the door in front of him.

"Maybe I need to ask Hogwarts to let us in," Harry suggested and laid his hand against the wall.

"Hogwarts, we're here now and would like to speak with Mr. Black. Will you please let us inside?"

'Of course my boy. Please be careful,' the castle replied, and a small click alerted them to the fact that the door was now unlocked.

HP

Croaker was the first to step through the open door, closely followed by everyone else. Like the others, Ron remained, stunned, at the sight in front of him.

A large, black dog was sitting on the floor with a rat perched between his teeth.

"That's Scabbers," he suddenly recognised the rat, "Ginny's rat."

"Reveal yourself," the Unspeakable ordered the dog in a strict voice. "Are you Sirius Black?"

Ron immediately pulled his wand, seeing from the corners of his eyes that Harry did the same, when the dog transformed into a tall, unkempt man.

"I am Sirius Black," he confirmed, holding his empty hands up to show that he was unarmed. Pointing to the rat, which was stunned, lying in front of his feet, he continued, "Please hear me out. I'm not the traitor. The rat here, he's Peter Pettigrew. He's the one who betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort, and he's also the one who blast up the street and killed all the muggles. I've done nothing of all the things that I've been accused for without ever receiving a trial."

"Is that true?" Croaker asked, sharply. "You never received a trial?"

Sirius nodded.

"Would you be willing to take Veritaserum and allow me to question you?" Croaker prompted.

"Of course," Sirius replied, letting his eyes wander over the small group, before they came to linger on Harry. "Harry," he said, his expression changing to a huge smile. "Do you know that you're my godson? Only the thought of you kept me sane, when I was in Azkaban."

"Well, let's see if you're really innocent. Otherwise, I don't have anything to say to you," Harry replied, seemingly torn between believing the man and making him responsible for his parents' deaths.

"Very well," Croaker said, pulling a small phial out of one of his inner robe pockets. He administered the Veritaserum and began the questioning.

Just a few minutes later, it was clear that Sirius was as innocent as he claimed, while Peter Pettigrew's questioning proved that he was guilty on all accounts.

 _'_ _Scabbers,'_ Ron thought, horrified. _'He was Percy's pet for so many years and now Ginny's. It's really hard to imagine that he was a criminal in hiding all this time. I can't believe it. Percy and Ginny will be shocked for sure, thinking that they allowed him to sleep in their beds.'_

"I'll speak with Madam Bones and see to it that you'll receive a trial during the next couple of days," Croaker promised. "Until then, I can either take you with me or advise you to hide well. I'm going to take Pettigrew into custody in any case." Picking up the rat, he transfigured it into a wooden rat, which he slid into his robe pocket, seemingly contented.

"I know where he can hide," Ron blurted out, glancing at Harry. "Harry, you said something that Hogwarts offered to show you the founders' quarters. Maybe Sirius could remain there for the time being."

Nodding, Harry stepped over to the wall and asked the castle, who once again led him and his friends, accompanied by a black dog, through the corridors by small arrows on the walls.

The whole group had to stop, however, when someone stepped in front of them, blinding them with the bright light from the tip of a wand and said in a stern voice, "Stop! Where do you think you're going? It's already after curfew."

"Can you please let your wand sink first?" Daphne was the first to reply, seemingly annoyed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Mastermind**  
 **by Teddylonglong**

 _All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

 **COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC.**

 _It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.  
_ _Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse_ _._ _Thanks a lot to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!_

* * *

As soon as they were able to see again, Harry blurted out, "Professor Lupin! Oh thank Merlin it's not the headmaster. Please come with us. We can't afford lingering in the halls much longer."

To everyone's surprise, the black dog dashed over to the professor and eagerly tried to lick his hand.

"Harry, do you know who this dog is?" Lupin suddenly asked in a stern voice, letting out a huge gasp.

"Yes, it's Sirius Black, and he's innocent. We're just on our way to the founders' quarters to hide him until his trial," Harry quickly informed the professor in a small voice, motioning the man to come with them.

A moment later, the arrows on the wall ended in front of a portrait of the four founders.

Harry stepped in front of the painting. "Good evening, Professors," he said, politely. "My friends and I would like to visit your quarters on Hogwarts' invitation."

"Hello Harry," one of the witches in the portrait replied, smiling. "Feel free to come and go as you please. Our quarters are yours now."

"Thank you very much," Harry replied. "Is it all right to take my friends with me? One of my friends is in need of a place to live for a few days, where the headmaster can't find him."

One of the men chuckled. "That's all right. The headmaster won't be able to access our rooms."

To everyone's surprise, the ladies leaned into the men's arms, opening a small passage between the two couples. Chuckling, the friends entered the founders' quarters with the black dog and the professor in tow.

"Professor Lupin," Harry turned to the teacher, "will you please help Sirius to settle in here? As it's already after curfew, we should really get back to our house. We'll come back tomorrow to get a look at these beautiful quarters."

"Croaker questioned Sirius and Pettigrew under Veritaserum and promised that Sirius was going to receive a trial during the next couple of days," Ron quickly filled the man in upon noticing his disbelieving look.

"Is that really true?" Lupin enquired, giving the girls a questioning look.

"Yes sir," Daphne and Tracey replied, simultaneously.

"Well then good night to you all, and you, old friend," Lupin replied turning to Sirius, "change back, so that we can get you settled in here."

HP

To Harry's relief, Croaker attended Sirius' and Peter Pettigrew's trial, and - as could be expected – Sirius was declared a free man. He happily accepted Amelia Bones' offer to give him back his former position as an Auror and from that point onwards, closely worked together with the Unspeakables.

Even if the Queen remained Harry's guardian in the muggle and the magical world, Harry was extremely happy to have a godfather in addition, and Sirius visited him at Hogwarts at every opportunity. No Quidditch match was played at the school without Sirius sitting in the teachers' stands together with Remus observing the matches and cheering either for Gryffindor or for his godson, whenever Harry played, even if it was for Slytherin.

HP

At the end of Ron's and Harry's third Hogwarts year, Croaker informed Sphinx and Mastermind that the headmaster was planning to hold the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts during the following school year.

"Croaker, do you believe that it's wise?" Sphinx spoke up in apparent disbelief. "You still don't know what happened to the Dark Lord, do you?"

"No," Croaker admitted. "We don't have a clue. Therefore, I think that it would be irresponsible to hold such an event, especially at Hogwarts of all places, where it would give Voldemort a brilliant opportunity for an attack."

When Ron met with Harry a few days later, he told him that Croaker – together with Amelia Bones and Sirius Black – had efficiently managed to talk Dumbledore out of holding the Triwizard Tournament as long as Voldemort was not completely gone.

"Fortunately," he added, "because they were going to cancel the Quidditch tournament in favour of the event, and I was going to try out for Keeper."

"Thank Merlin they cancelled it," Harry agreed. "I wouldn't want to miss Quidditch for a whole year. You're going to make a brilliant Keeper by the way. I can't wait to be able to play on the team together."

Feeling very happy about his friend's encouragement, Ron decided to really try out for the team. _'Fred and George aren't that much better, and they've been on the Gryffindor team for years,'_ he thought, somehow feeling relieved that Percy had finished his NEWTs and would not be at the school anymore. _'I can't do anything right for him anyway,'_ he mused.

HP

Ron indeed made it onto the team, and for the fourth time in a row, Slytherin managed to win the Quidditch cup along with the House cup.

"Congratulations," Neville said to Ron and Harry, when they had breakfast together at the Slytherin table in the morning before everyone was going to head home for the summer.

"Thanks," Ron replied, grinning.

"This was a really quiet school year," Daphne spoke up. "Thank Merlin."

"Next year will be much harder," Hermione added. "We're going to have to take our OWLs at the end of the school year."

"Ah don't worry, we'll manage easily," Daphne replied, smirking. "Maybe we can meet during the summer holidays and study together?"

"We could stay in the Founders' quarters for a few days or even weeks," Harry suggested, and the six friends quickly agreed to travel to Hogwarts together after meeting at Buckingham Palace for Harry's birthday like every year.

HP

Unbeknownst to the headmaster, Ron and Harry, Daphne, Tracey, Hermione and Neville spent the last four weeks of the summer holidays at Hogwarts. Ron and Daphne had managed to borrow Unspeakable robes for their friends, so that neither the headmaster nor any of the other staff would notice the soon-to-be fifth years walking through the deserted corridors of the castle every now and then.

Like during the school year, Mastermind and Sphinx attended meetings with the Unspeakables at least twice a week, and one day at the end of the holidays, they learned that Dumbledore had been arrested by Aurors for hiding Gellert Grindelwald, who was supposed to have been in prison for several decades already, at Dumbledore Manor.

"What's going to happen now?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Dumbledore's going to have a trial, and, depending on the outcome, he's either going to be free or to be sent to Azkaban for a longer time," Croaker informed them, smirking. "Maybe Harry should speak with Amelia and tell her what Dumbledore did against him," he suggested.

"I'll ask him," Ron promised and, immediately upon his return to Hogwarts, spoke with his best friend about the matter.

However, Harry decided that he did not want to throw any more dirt onto Dumbledore and refused to speak with the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement about the matter.

"I wonder who's going to be the new headmaster," Hermione spoke up, giving Ron a questioning look.

"I've no idea," Ron replied, shrugging, glancing at Daphne.

"Maybe Professor McGonagall will become the headmistress," the girl replied, pensively.

"That would be amazing," Hermione added, smiling.

HP

The six friends were happy to learn that indeed Dumbledore was sent to Azkaban for a ten-year stay and that Professor McGonagall accepted the position as the new headmistress. They were taken aback, however, upon hearing from Croaker that Dolores Umbridge was going to come to Hogwarts to teach the new subject of Magical Education.

"Umbridge is an absolute bitch," Croaker admitted, when he informed his two Mini Unspeakables about the matter.

HP

Together with his classmates, Ron observed in horror how a witch in a pink cardigan introduced herself as the new professor, explaining that she had been sent by the Minister of Magic to make sure that the Hogwarts students would receive proper education.

Their first Magical Education class did not help to improve the students' opinion about their new professor though.

 _'_ _Disgusting bitch,'_ Ron thought, noticing in surprise that Harry had turned very pale during their class.

"She has a strange aura," Harry told him, when they arrived in their own room in Slytherin after their last afternoon class. "It resembles the one that Quirrell had in our first year."

"Do you think that she's possessed by Voldemort?" Ron asked in shock.

"Maybe," Harry replied, shrugging. "I don't know. There's just something around her that reminds me of Quirrell."

HP

Ron telepathically informed Croaker, who in turn promised to speak with Professor Snape about the matter. 'If anyone will be able to assess if a person is possessed by Voldemort, it should be him,' the Head Unspeakable replied, comfortingly.

"Do you think Hogwarts would know?" Harry suddenly asked, when they headed to the Great Hall for lunch on the following day.

"Oh right," Ron replied, pensively. "You should ask her. Remember how she was able to help us with Sirius," he recalled. "I have to attend an Unspeakable meeting tonight, so I won't be able to accompany you though."

"That's all right," Harry replied, smiling. "I'll just ask Hermione and Neville to come with me to the Founders' quarters while you and Daphne are gone."

"All right," Ron agreed. "Too bad that Tracey is in the hospital wing. Daphne and I will join you as soon as we're back though."

HP

Knowing that Ron had telepathically informed Hermione and Neville to meet him in the Founders' quarters, Harry headed to the second floor right after dinner. However, just when he reached the corridor in front of the hospital wing, Professor Umbridge stepped into his way.

So far, Harry had never seen the professor in the pink cardigan use a wand, and even during her classes, the teacher insisted that they did not have to actively cast magic at all. This time, however, the professor pulled her wand, and before he realised what happened let alone thought of readying his own wand to cast a protective spell, the killing curse hit him square into the chest.

HP

When Hermione and Neville approached the hospital wing on their way to the Founders' quarters, they found Harry and Professor Umbridge sprawled out on the floor, seemingly dead.

"Are they dead?" Hermione asked, horrified, before she hurried towards Harry and knelt on the floor next to him. "No, he's breathing," she then uttered in relief.

"Umbitch too," Neville confirmed. "Let's call Madam Pomfrey."

"I wonder what happened," Hermione breathed, as the two fifth-years hurried into the hospital wing to call the healer.

The healer leaned over her two new patients confirming that they were breathing and quickly levitated them inside.

"They're both in a coma," she informed the students. "Do you have any idea what might have happened?"

Hermione and Neville exchanged a glance, before Hermione explained, "We don't know what occurred, but Harry assumed that Professor Umbridge was possessed by Voldemort. We were just about to meet in the Founders' quarters to ask Hogwarts about the matter."

Pomfrey's eyes widened in shock, however, she quickly got a grip on herself and waved her wand over the professor. "She's not possessed, however, her magical signature has changed. If it's true that she was possessed before, there's a possibility that Voldemort took over her body after the incident," she replied, pensively.

"Neville, let's go to the Founders' quarters and ask Hogwarts what happened," Hermione suggested, eagerly.

"If you can do that, it would surely help," Pomfrey said in apparent appreciation, before she began to tend to Harry.

Glad that the Founders' quarters were right around the corner, Hermione dashed over to the portrait, closely followed by Neville.

"Please let us in quickly. We need to speak with Hogwarts," she breathed, glad when the founders opened the entrance for them instantly.

Arriving at the Parlour, Hermione addressed Hogwarts, hoping that the castle would hear them even without having Harry with them. "Hogwarts, can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you, dear," the castle replied in her usual, soft voice, before she continued, in a much graver voice, "Umbridge killed Harry, but as he's the Master of Death, he only ended up in a coma."

"The Master of Death?" Hermione asked in bewilderment, causing the castle to explain to the children about the Deathly Hallows.

"Thank Merlin. Otherwise, he'd be dead, right?" Hermione breathed.

"Yes," Hogwarts confirmed. "I took some revenge on Umbridge…"

"Is she possessed by Voldemort?" Hermione eagerly interrupted the castle.

"She was, yes," Hogwarts confirmed, "and when I killed Umbridge in revenge for killing my heir, Voldemort took over her body."

Hermione and Neville profusely thanked the castle for taking revenge on Umbridge and for the information, promising to return in a little while, before they hurried back to the hospital wing to tell Madam Pomfrey the news.

"Err, Madam Pomfrey, can't you just give Umbridge AKA Voldemort a potion that would kill her?" Neville suggested, causing Pomfrey to give him a sad look before shaking her head.

"That would be the right thing to do, but due to my healer's oath, I'm not able to kill a patient," she replied in a soft voice.

"Also, I think it's Harry who has to get rid of Voldemort according to the prophecy," Hermione spoke up.

"Oh right, there was something," Neville agreed, recalling that Ron and Harry had said something about a prophecy.

HP

When Ron and Daphne joined the others in the Founders' quarters and heard what had happened, Ron immediately informed Croaker, who instructed him to return to the ministry right away.

"I better go and see what he wants," he told the others. "Maybe he has an idea."

"Hopefully," Daphne replied, sighing.

"We'll wait for you," Hermione added, giving him a comforting nod.

When he arrived back at the Unspeakables Office, Croaker was already waiting for him.

"You won't be able to kill Voldemort," he said, gravely, "but you can at least cast a spell on him that'll prevent him from waking up from his coma."

"Oh please teach me that spell," Ron replied, eagerly. "Will it last forever? I mean, we don't know when Harry is going to wake up."

"If you cast it properly, it'll work until you take off the spell," Croaker assured him, smirking.

The two Unspeakables headed to one of the training rooms, where the Head Unspeakable made the boy practise the spell on a dummy. It took many attempts, and Ron was already feeling quite frustrated, when he finally managed to put the dummy into the infinite coma.

"All right, try that again," Croaker instructed him and only released him when he managed to properly cast the spell five times in a row.

"Should I cast the spell on Voldemort in the morning?" Ron asked, yawning. "I'm very tired now."

Croaker shook his head. "No, ask Pomfrey to give you a Pepperup potion and cast it right away to be sure," he replied in a firm voice, before he dismissed the Mini Unspeakable. "Just give me a short message when it's done."

"I will," Ron promised and returned to Hogwarts.

Twenty minutes later, he contacted Croaker with the information that he had cast the spell on Voldemort, and that Pomfrey had confirmed that the kind of coma the former professor was in had changed.

HP

To Ron's and his friends' disappointment, Harry did not wake up during the following days or even weeks. The next Hogsmeade visit approached, and the five friends pondered if they should go to Hogsmeade or rather spend the day at Harry's bedside, as Pomfrey had instructed them to spend as much time with Harry talking to him as possible.

However, when they were still pondering the matter, the healer told them, "Go to Hogsmeade and enjoy your day. Professor McGonagall and I will spend some time with him today. You need to make some experiences of which you can tell him, don't you?" she added, smirking.

 _'_ _Thank Merlin,'_ Ron thought. In fact, he had been looking forward to the next Hogsmeade day for a reason. He wanted to ask Daphne to become his girlfriend, but when they were at Hogwarts, there were always others nearby, and it was not much different in the Unspeakables Office, so that a Hogsmeade visit seemed the best opportunity. Ever since the beginning of their third Hogwarts year, he and Daphne had been spending the days in Hogsmeade as dates, only meeting their friends for lunch at The Three Broomsticks.

On Friday afternoon, Ron told his friends that he had to leave for the Unspeakables Office for an hour. He returned to his dormitory, pulled on his Unspeakable robes and headed straight to Diagon Alley. During the summer holidays, he had already looked for and found a small jewellers shop, where he decided to buy friendship rings, hoping that Daphne would agree to become his girlfriend.

In the morning, however, he became extremely disappointed upon hearing that Daphne had invited Tracey to join her and Ron in Hogsmeade. _'Oh right, usually she goes with Harry, so she doesn't have anyone to go with today,'_ he realised in dissatisfaction.

To his surprise, even Hermione and Neville, who usually went to Hogsmeade together, joined them, so that they spent the whole morning moving around the village in their group of five. 'Well, that's fun, too, but I want to ask her something,' he thought, somehow not able to really enjoy their visit to Hogsmeade. His mood lit, however, when Tracey announced after lunch that she was going to return to Hogwarts to keep Harry company, and the two remaining couples split to enjoy the afternoon in their usual pairing.

Ron and Daphne headed to a playground, which was a little off the main street but not far from a small ice cream shop, where they often spent some quiet afternoon time.

"Daphne," Ron addressed the girl, not having the patience to wait until they had finished their ice cream, "would you perhaps like to become my girlfriend?"

Daphne, who had appeared to be engrossed in her own musings, slowly turned her head to view him, and Ron almost feared that she would deny his wish, when she replied. "Ron, I'd love to be your girlfriend."

HP

Weeks turned into months, and soon enough, the Christmas holidays were about to begin. Since Harry was still in a coma, the five friends decided to remain at Hogwarts over the holidays in order to be able to keep him company.

It was on the last Hogsmeade visit of the year that Tracey was sitting on the edge of Harry's bed, gently caressing his left hand.

"Harry, I miss you so much," she whispered. "Daphne and Ron and also Hermione and Neville have become girlfriend and boyfriend, and I'm just alone because you, my better half, can't be with me. I want you to wake up soon. Please Harry, that's my wish for Christmas. I love you so much."

She took a moment to wipe the tears off her face, before she reached for his hand again – only to realise that it twitched. "Harry?" she asked, turning her eyes to view his face with a combination of desperation and hope.

"Love you, too," Harry suddenly mumbled, causing her to jump from her seat.

"Madam Pomfrey," she shouted in excitement. "Harry's waking up."

"I can't leave you alone for Christmas now, can I?" Harry asked with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Thank Merlin you're awake," she breathed, grudgingly stepping aside to make space for the healer.

HP

An hour later, Tracey and Harry made their way into the Founders' quarters.

"Tracey, I'm sorry, but I can't ask you right now to become my girlfriend," Harry said in a soft voice, before he asked a house-elf for some refreshments. Realising that the girl stared at him in apparent shock, he explained, "Sorry dear, I will, but not right now. Before you can ask you such a thing, I need to get rid of Voldemort. The problem is that I don't know how. I need Ron to ask Croaker if he has an idea."

Tracey glanced at her wrist watch. "They're only going to return from Hogsmeade in five or six hours," she replied, sighing. "Why don't we go and ask Professor Snape if he can suggest a spell that you could use?"

"That's a good idea," Harry agreed. "Just allow me to eat something first. I'm famished."

"Me too," Tracey added, smiling happily.

HP

When they were both sure that they would not be able to stomach any more of the delicacies that the house-elves had brought for them, they slowly made their way to the dungeons in search of their head of house.

"Harry, back to the world of the living?" Snape greeted the boy, who returned a glare.

"Professor," Harry replied, sighing, "I need to somehow finish off Voldemort, and we thought that you might teach me an adequate spell."

Snape remained pensive for a moment. "I know a spell, and I can, of course, teach you, but it won't work right now."

"And why might that be?" Harry enquired.

"The Dark Lord is in some kind of coma, which, however, more resembles the after-effect of the Draught of Living Death than a real coma," Snape began to explain, "and the spell which I have in mind won't kill him in this condition. Ronald has to cancel his spell and release him from the Living Death status, before you'll be able to affect him with the spell."

"Oh all right," Harry replied in confusion.

"I suggest that we use the time before Ronald will be back from his snogging trip to Hogsmeade to practise the spell, so that you'll be able to cast it at the Dark Lord, before he or she'll be able to do you any harm," Snape continued. "Ms. Davis, I suggest that you find some other occupation for this afternoon," he added, turning to Tracey, before he motioned Harry to follow him to what seemed to be a duelling room in the dungeons.

Harry spent the whole afternoon practising the spell on a group of dummies, and it was almost dinner time, when Snape was finally contented with his performance.

"Come to meet me in the hospital wing right after dinner together with Ronald," he instructed Harry, while they walked towards the Great Hall for dinner.

"Yes sir, and thank you very much for teaching me that spell," Harry replied, feeling very grateful towards his head of house.

HP

Together with his girlfriend, Ronald only returned to Hogwarts on time for dinner, glad that he had been able to find adequate Christmas presents for his family, his friends, his fellow Unspeakables and the Queen. He stopped dead in his tracks upon entering the entrance hall, where his best friend was just arriving from the dungeons together with his head of house.

"Harry?" he shouted, staring at the other boy, open-mouthed.

"When you're finished gawking, Mr. Weasley, maybe you could proceed into the Great Hall releasing other students from the traffic jam that you're causing," Snape replied, while Harry merely stood there, grinning.

"Ah, sorry sir," Ron muttered and quickly followed Harry into the Great Hall, pulling his girlfriend with him.

When they were sitting at the Slytherin table, where Hermione and Neville joined them after seeing Harry, Harry told him that he had to cancel the spell on Voldemort, so that he could kill the evil wizard for good.

"He seems more of an evil witch right now," Tracey added, grinning.

 _'_ _Oh, I hope that'll go well,'_ Ron thought and in concern contacted Croaker, who promised to be there in case that Voldemort would try to harm Harry before he could cast his spell.

'Thanks Croaker,' Ron replied, feeling very grateful towards the Head Unspeakable, who had always helped him in all possible kinds of situations. _'Too bad that only Harry can kill that monster,'_ he thought, while he put a large helping of Shepherd's pie onto his plate. _'Otherwise, I could have done it months ago.'_

HP

Right after dinner, Ron made his way to the hospital wing, accompanied by Harry and Professor Snape, while their other friends followed in a short distance. Arriving in the small teachers' room, where Professor Umbridge AKA Voldemort was resting in a seemingly peaceful sleep, he noticed in relief that Croaker was already waiting for him.

The Head Unspeakable exchanged a few words with Snape and Harry, before he instructed Ron to cancel the spell that he had made him practise so many times just a few months ago.

"How do I cancel it?" Ron asked in confusion.

"Finite Incantatem," Croaker instructed him, and Ron nodded in determination.

Glancing around to make sure that no one but Snape, Harry, Croaker and Madam Pomfrey were present in the room, he raised his wand and cast the spell.

HP

From the corners of his eyes, Harry noticed that Umbridge, _'Oh well, Voldemort'_ , he realised, slowly began to move. _'Now,'_ he thought and quickly cast the spell which he had practised all afternoon.

He then slowly let his wand sink, giving the adults a questioning look.

"He's dead," Pomfrey confirmed with a quick wave of her wand.

"Yes," Croaker confirmed.

Snape hurried to roll up his left sleeve, only to stare at his now white arm in apparent disbelief. "He must really be gone now, because the Dark Mark is gone," he stated in what seemed to be surprise and delight. "Congratulations Mr. Potter, you did it," he added with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Thank you Mr. Potter," Croaker added.

Harry shook his head. "Excuse me sirs, but why thank me? It was Ron's spell that kept him in a coma until I was ready, and it was the two of you who taught us the necessary spells. So I have to thank the three of you for your help."

HP

Just a few days later, the annual Christmas Party at the Ministry of Magic took place, which Ron attended together with Daphne, Harry and Tracey. The Minister of Magic used the opportunity to award Ron and Harry the Order of Merlin first class for getting rid of Voldemort.

"I only cast one spell," Ron whispered in bewilderment.

"Same here," Harry agreed.

"Ah, shut up you two," Daphne silenced them. "You cast one spell each, but it was an important spell that no one else could cast, especially Harry's. Just be happy that you managed to do it and accept the reward."

HP

The party was already half-way over, when one of the Unspeakable guests revealed herself. At first, everyone except for Croaker and the four fifth-years believed that it was someone under the influence of Polyjuice potion. However, when Ron introduced the guest as the Queen of England, a witch and the Head of not only the mundane world but also the magical community, huge applause greeted her.

"Good evening, witches and wizards of Britain," the Queen addressed everyone. "The time has come for me to use my rights of interfering with the magical world." The hall remained completely silent, when everyone seemed to hang on her lips, as she continued. "First of all, I wish to award Harry Potter and Ron Weasley the Order of the British Empire, which is the highest reward in the British mundane world, for getting rid of Voldemort, who did not only pose a risk for the magical but also for the mundane world. Thank you very much, Ron and Harry, for getting rid of the evil for all of us."

She motioned the boys to step forward and handed each of them a medal, which to Ron's surprise was not so very different from the Order of Merlin. When Ron and Harry returned to their seats under huge applause, she continued her speech.

"At this opportunity, I wish to dismiss Cornelius Fudge as the Minister of Magic. In his place, I herewith appoint Amelia Bones as the new Minister of Magic."

Amelia Bones as well as Cornelius Fudge rose from their chairs, however, Fudge was quickly led out of the hall by two Unspeakables. At the same time, Amelia received enormous applause for her new position, which she gracefully accepted.

"Thank you very much for your confidence," Amelia spoke up. "I will try to make better decisions than my predecessor, and I hope that you'll all support me with this task. Now, as my successor as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement I wish to see Sirius Black."

Ron smiled, as Harry's godfather was a bit like his own godfather to him, and he really liked the funny wizard. Once again, the applause was immense. However, the Queen was not finished with her speech.

"As soon as Harry will have taken his OWLs at the end of this school year, I wish to employ him as the Coordinator between the magical and the mundane world. He will take care of all matters between the two worlds and closely work together with Amelia and myself," she announced, turning her eyes to Harry.

Harry thanked the Queen profusely for her trust and promised to do his best to fulfil the offered position to everyone's contentedness.

"Nevertheless, you should study for your NEWTs, even if you're already working for Amelia and myself," the Queen instructed him, causing Harry to voice his agreement.

"You can study together with my Mini Unspeakables Mastermind and Sphinx, who will also begin to work as Unspeakables right after their OWLs," Croaker spoke up, glancing at Ron and Daphne.

Seeing that Daphne nodded in apparent eagerness, Ron did the same. "Thank you Croaker," he added, grinning broadly, as the Queen re-took her seat between him and Harry without re-adjusting her Unspeakable robes.

 **The End**

 _Thanks a lot to the kind readers who supported my muse by reviewing throughout this story!_


End file.
